Archerfish.org

(BEIJING, September 7) — Valeriy Ponomarenko of Russia won gold in the Men’s P1-10m Air Pistol SH1, breaking the qualification and final world records.

Ponomarenko’s 578 points in the qualification round gave him a nine-point lead over second-ranked compatriot Sergey Malyshev, who eventually won the silver medal. “I have prepared carefully for three years. I made a lot of effort and it helped me get the result,” commented Ponomarenko on his record-making qualification performance.

Ponomarenko shot a amateurish 8.3 with his first shot in the final, an even more disappointing 8.1 with his seventh shot and two shots of less than nine, but his final score of 672.4 still created a new world record.

“I never thought that I would be the champion as I did very badly in my training yesterday. However, I attended the Opening Ceremony yesterday and it excited me. This may have contributed to my success today. I am so glad,” said Ponomarenko.

Despite an 8.5 with his first shot, Malyshev managed a ten and two shots higher than ten to reduce the deficit between him and Ponomarenko to 6.6.

“My first shot only scored 8.5 points, so I felt a bit nervous after that shot. However, I was still very satisfied with my performance today,” said Malyshev. It was his first medal in the Paralympic Games.

Lee Ju-hee of the Republic of Korea won the bronze medal with 664.6 points. Lee looked like he was out of medal contention after he scored only 7.6 points on his eighth shot, but he held his nerve and scored 10.7 points on his last shot, propelling himself to third place.

Local favorite and defending champion in this event, Li Jianfei of China finished sixth. He came close to medal contention after his seventh shot, but scored only 8.1 on his last shot, which ended his chances of winning a medal.