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The 2004 Olympic Champion of Athens Lioubov GALKINA of Russia won today’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions women competition at the 2nd leg of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series in rifle and pistol events.

The 36-year old Russian shooter placed in first since the qualifications, and shot gold with a total score of 679.9 points (578+101.9) after managing a consistent head-start throughout the 10 final shots. GALKINA, one of the most expert rifle shooter of the actual shooting scene, had struggled at the last Games held on these lines last August. She had placed in fourth after a tough match eventually won by China’s DU Li.

The host country, China, secured silver and bronze thanks to XIONG Meili and WAN XIangyan.

XIONG Meili, 22, placed in second winning silver with 675.8 points (577+98.8), an exceptional result considering that she had never competed in a world-level event before.

XIONG’s team-mate, 22-year old WAN Xiangyan, shot Bronze, her second international medal following the silver she claimed at the last ISSF World Cup Stage held in Changwon last week. WAN shot a qualification score of 568 points, entering the medal match in seventh place. Then she scored the best final, climbing to the podium with 102.7 points.

WAN won her race for the podium defeating on the last shot the Japanese finalist Yuka NAKAMURA, 21-year old, competing in her first final today. She fired a last shot of 9.8 points, which could not stand to WAN’s 10.8, finishing in fourth with a score of 669.7 points.

Germany’s Claudia KECK, 23, debuted in the final hall, today. Qualified with 570 points, she fired a final of 99.6 points, placing in fifth with a total of 669.6 points. She preceded the France athlete Soleig BIBARD, 29, sixth with 668.0 pts (569+99.0) and the Finnish shooter Hanna ETULA, 28, seventh with 666.7 pts (569+97.7).

Israel’s Chen TAL, who had never entered a world cup final round before, placed in eight with 661.3 pts (568+93.3).

China’s SHI Xinglong, 32, won gold at the 10m Pistol Men medal match at the second stage of the ISSF World Cup Series held in Beijing.
SHI shot 683.0 points (582+101.0), climbing from the fifth place to win his second medal in this event, after the Bronze he secured at the first leg of the ISSF World Cup Series in Changwon, Korea, last week.

Shi’s team-mate MAI Jiajie, 21-year old, followed his older team-mate on the podium by shooting silver with 682.8 points (582+100.8). The young athlete won several junior awards, like a bronze at the 2006 ISSF World Championships of Zagreb and a gold at the 2007 Asian Championships, but he had never made into the senior team to compete in a world cup before.

The long experienced 38-year old shooter Yury DAUHAPOLAU finished on the podium grabbing Bronze at the last shot with a total score of 682.5 points (583+99.5). Belarus’ pistol champion came from a fourth place at the European Championships, held last February in Prague, and gave his best to secure a spot on the podium here in Beijing. Starting in second place after the qualifications, he shot neck and neck against the two Chinese team-mates right to the end. An unlucky shot, an 8.7 fired on his ninth competition shot, pushed him in third place, where he closed the match only 3 tenths behind China’s Mai.

Rashid YUNUSMETOV, the Kazakh shooter who won the 50m Pistol event held two days ago, made into his second consecutive medal match. His qualification score of 581 points, and a final of 98.0 points, stopped him in eight place.

Germany’s Patrik LENGERER, 27, finished the first final round of his career in fourth place with 681.5 pts (585+96.5). He was followed by Russia’s Vladimir GONTCHAROV, fifth with 680.6 pts (582+98.6), and by Pavol KOPP of Slovakia, sixth with 680.5 pts (582+99.5). Denis KOULAKOV, the second Russian shooter, placed seventh with 680.2 pts (581+99.2).

The Australian Shooter secured gold at today’s 50m Rifle Prone Men events, topping the gold he had won last week while competing in the first leg of the ISSF world cup series held in Changwon, Korea.
“I am very pleased of today’s scores and to have won another gold medal. – said Potent, who shot a great qualification in spite of the severe wind conditions – The wind conditions did not really bother me. It actually doesn’t make much difference to me if I am shooting outside or in an indoor range.”

Warren Potent, 47, is proving to be one of the leading shooters of the world in the rifle prone event. Within the ISSF World Cup Series, he has won three consecutive gold medals (2008 World Cup Final, 2009 World Cup stage Changwon and today’s final). Statistics show a terrific average: starting from the World Cup Stage Sydney in 2007, he has made into 7 different world cup medal matches, winning 4 golds and 2 silvers.

Today’s silver went to France’s Jossellin HENRY, who won his second consecutive silver medal in this event, again behind Potent. The 26-year old France athlete shot 698.8 points (595+103.8), upsetting USA’s Michael MCPHAIL at the last shot.

Mcphail climbed from the seventh place to close the match in third place, winning Bronze with 698.7 points (594+104.7). The American shooter fired the best final, with an average close to 10.5 points per shot, but he missed silver because of one tenth of a point.

Valerian SAUVEPLANE of France finished in fourth place with 698.4 points (595+103.4); USA’s Eric UPTAGRAFFT placed fifth with 697.1 pts (594+103.1); India’s Gagan NARANG placed sixth with 696.6 pts (595+101.6); Olympic 10m Air Rifle Bronze medallist Henri HAKKINEN shot his first final round in the prone event, finishing in seventh place with 696.5 pts (595+101.5).
China’s ZHANG Senmao, who had debuted in the ISSF world cup series in Changwon last week, placed in eighth with 695.6 points (594+101.6).

China’s YIN Wen, 26, secured Gold by shooting the best final with a score of 503.4 points (399+104.4), climbing from the second place she had on the start list after the qualification. She had finished in first also at the last ISSF world cup stage, held in Chanwon, Korea, last week.

YIN’s teammate YI Siling, today’s youngest finalist (19-year old) closed the match in second place, winning Silver with 501.5 points (399+102.5).

Olympic Bronze medallist Snjezana PEJCIC of Croatia, who had won her Olympic podium on these shooting lines, placed in third with 500.7 points (399+101.7). She led the match right to the last shot, when a she fired a fatal 9.6 that pushed her in third.

Today’s third Chinese finalist WANG Bing Ying placed in fourth with 500.5 points (398+102.5)

Kazakhstan’s Rashid YUNUSMETOV, 29, won the 50m Pistol Men final at the ISSF World Cup in rifle and pistol events in Beijing by shootgin 660.5 points.

Competing on the lines of the 2008 Olympic Games, the Kazakh shooter managed a safe advantage of 7 points on his followers that he had built up throughout the qualifications. Closing the match with a precise 10.8 shot, he finished in first winning his fist Gold medal within the ISSF frame with a total score of 660.5 points (568+92.5).

Silver went to Slovakia’s Pavol KOPP, who finished in second with 657.1 pts. (561+96.1). Kopp, 30-year old, sixth in the world rank, had competed here Beijing during the Games, finishing then in fifth place.

Olympic Bronze medallist Vladimir ISAKOV of the Russian Federation closed the match in third place, winning Bronze with 654.5 points (557+97.5).