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World Record holder Alexei KLIMOV of Russia won today’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol men event at the ISSF world cup in Changwon, Korea. The 33-year old Russian athlete won the final round with a total score of 790.2 points (590+200.2), starting the new season in the lead as he had finished the previous one by winning the 2008 World Cup Final in Bangkok.

Klimov won gold by defeating in the third and last relay Beijing’s Bronze medallist Christian REITZ, renewing a duel lasting since last year’s World Cup in Milan, when Reitz had tied Klimov’s 591-point record, and then set a new Final World Record of 794.0 points.
Today, the expert Russian shooter entered the final round in the lead with one point of head start, and did not live many chances to Reitz. The 21-year old German shooter did not fire his best final, landing in fourth place with a score of 784.4 points (589+195.4).

Silver went to USA’s Keith SANDERSON, who climbed from the third place to finish on the second step of the podium with a score of 787.3 points (589+198.3). “good to be on the podium, but I am not very happy with the today’s score. I haven’t been training that much after the Olympics. – Said the American shooter, who had placed in fifth at the Olympic final of Beijing, last year – I have been teaching shooting in Hawaii, but will train more, from now on.”

Bronze went to the 23-year old Chinese shooter Jian ZHANG, 23, who scored 785.7 points (588+197.7). He had never taken part in an ISSF international or continental competition before, and his prime performance highlighted once more the success of the Chinese team at this first ISSF world cup stage.

Korea’s KANG Min Su finished in fifth place, scoring 781.9 points (585+196.9), while the Russian pistol master Leonid EKIMOV finished in last after missing one of the targets in his first series.
Ekimov, who had won Gold and Silver in the 10m Air Pistol and 50m Pistol men events in the last days, could not recover from that mistake, and missed the chance to step on his third consecutive podium, landing in sixth place with 768.8 points (585+183.8).

People’s Republic of China’s national anthem was played at today’s 50m Rifle Three Positions women event, at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, as the Chinese rifle team secured gold, silver and bronze thanks to YIN Wen, WAN Xiangyan and WANG Chengyi.

YIN Wen, who had won gold at yesterday’s 10m Air Rifle women event, led the match with ease, entering the final round with a safe advantage of 7 points on her followers. Shooting a consistent final of 98.2 points, she secured gold with 685.2 points (587+98.2).
The 2007 World Cup Final winner never jeopardize her leadership, gaining tenths on her followers shot after shot displaying self-confidence. She had already climbed Changwon’s podium in 2003, when she had won a Silver medal at the world cup stage held here that year.

YIN’s teammate WAN Xiangyan grabbed silver after an intense final round. The 22-year shooter, who has only competed in a few world cup stages so far, struggled at the beginning of the match and shot in the eights more then once.
Dropped in last place, she fired a decisive 10.9 on her 8th competition shot, climbing up the scoreboard and finishing in second place to finish on the podium between YIN and WANG with a total score of 676.8 points (580+96.8).

Athens’s Olympic Bronze medallist WANG Chengyi, back in an ISSF world cup final round after missing since 2007, shot neck and neck with her teammate WAN, loosing the second place she had gained throughout the qualification on the very last shot. After firing a disappointing 9.5, she landed in third place with a total score of 676.6 points (582+94.6), only two tenths of a point behind her teammate WAN.

The two Indian teammates Meena KUMARI and Lajja GAUSWAMI, 25 and 20 years old, both at their first experience in an ISSF world cup final round, placed in fourth and fifth place, tricked by their last shots after they had been duelling for Bronze throughout the previous nine shots.

Sydney’s Olympic Bronze medallist Maria FEKLISTOVA, coming back after missing from the highest ISSF rankings since a few years, made into the final passing through a shoot-off and finished in sixth place. Following her, Malaysia’s Shahera RAHIM RAJA finished in seventh, and Silvia GUIGNARD SCHNYDER from Switzerland in eighth place.

TONG Xin from the People’s Republic of China, won the 10m Air Pistol Women final at the ISSF world cup in rifle and pistol events in Changwon, Korea. Entering the final round in the lead with the highest qualification score, she finished in first with a total of 489.4 points (388+101.4). The 26-year old pistol shooter seldom competes in world cup stages, but when she does it she is used to finish on the podium. She had indeed already won an ISSF medal here in Changwon, where she had won a silver at the world cup stage held here in 2005.

Supported by a crowded final hall, LEE Ho Lim of Korea could not make it to the highest step of the podium. The 20-year old shooter entered the final round with one point of disadvantage from the qualification’s leader TONG, and the ten final shots where not enough to fill the gap. LEE finished in second place with an overall score of 488.3 point (387+101.3), securing silver, her second medal within the ISSF World Cup Series frame (she had won a gold medal at the world cup held in Milan in 2005).

Bronze went to the Australian shooter Lalita YAUHLEUSKAYA, probably the most experienced shooter competing in today’s match. The four-time Olympian finished in third place with a total score of 487.8 points (386+101.8), missing to catch up Korea’s LEE by five tenths of a point.

Kazakhstan’s Zauresh BAIBUSSINOVA shot a final of 99.6 points, climbing from the eight place to the fourth, where she placed with 482.6 (383+99.6). LEE Pei Ching of Chinese Taipei closed the final round in fifth place with 482.3 points, preceding Japan’s Yoko INADA (sixth with 480.5 points), and Korea’s KIM Byung Hee (seventh with 479.7 points). The second Chinese finalist WU Yan, winner of yesterday’s 25m Pistol Women Final, placed eighth with 478.7 points.

Olympic Bronze medallist Waren POTENT started the new ISSF world cup series as he had closed the previous edition: in first place. POTENT had won the 2008 World Cup Final in Bangkok, the last ISSF competition of the Olympic year. Today climbed up form third place he had after the qualification, and won the rifle prone final with a score of 700.0 (596+104.0), stating again his leadership in this event. “I am so happy! I felt quite confident today”.
The Australian shooter made his way to the podium by shooting the highest per-shot average in today’s final, gaining his fourth ISSF world cup gold medal. His average is impressive: during the last two world cup seasons, POTENT has won 4 golds and 2 bronzes, an impressive total of six medals out of nine world cup stages, only in the 50m rifle prone event.

Silver was taken by Josselin HENRY of France, who climbed from the fourth place winning his first medal in this event with 699.4 points (596+103.4). The France shooter overtook the 20-year old Norwegian athlete Ole Magnus BAKKEN, who shot himself in third place by firing a last shot of 9.2 points, probably feeling the pressure of his first world-level final in this event. The Norwegian shooter shot Bronze with a total of 699.3 points (597+102.3), only one tenth behind HENRY.

India’s Gagan NARANG finished in fourth place with 698.7 points (597+698.7), his best placement in this event in an ISSF world cup so far. The Indian shooter, who is an expert and successful 10m Air Rifle shooter, considers the rifle prone a back-up event “I am still learning!” he had said a few days ago about it.

USA’s Michael MCPHAIL finished in fifth place with 698.4 points (595+103.4), followed by the home shooter Jinseop HAN, who closed the round in sixth with 696.1 points (594+102.9).

Beijing’s Olympic Silver medallist JIN set a new World Record this morning, qualifying for the 10m Air Pistol Men final with a record score of 594 points that shattered a previous record of 593 points which had resisted since 20 years (set by Sergei PYZHIANOV at the 1989 World Cup Final).

JIN, who had won gold at yesterday’s 50m pistol competition, entered the final round with the intention of achieving a new final world record (previous: 695.1), a result which would have been possible with a final of 101,1 points, a reachable score.

Staring in the lead with 7 points of advantage on the following EKIMOV, JIN shot two times in the ten ring, and then his scores started dropping, landing on an unbelievable 8.0 on his 4th competition shot. The paper of the electronic target had stopped scrolling down, but the athlete and his coach only noticed the malfunction on the seventh competition shots, issuing a protest.

The final round was interrupted, and the judges moved JIN to the spare target available for these emergency situations. The break lasted more then 5 minutes so, following the ISSF rules, was given to the finalists an additional five-minute sighting time.

JIN, clearly disappointed, lost his concentration and could not perform at his best on the new target. He closed the round with a 7.9 shot, finishing in second place behind Russia’s EKIMOV and winning Silver with a total score of 689.7 points (594+95.7).

Leonid EKIMOV of the Russian Federation, 21-year old, won gold with an outstanding final round of 104.0 points. An impressive average of 10.4 points per shot pushed him to the highest step of the podium, where he landed with a total score of 691.0 points (587+104.0).

The young pistol shooter EKIMOV finished in spotlights again with this excellent performance, confirming to be a rising shooting start. At the age of 21 years, he can display a wide medal collection, and the shooting fans should keep an eye on him. Next to nine European titles in different pistol events, the young EKIMOV has already won 5 World Cup medals, and has taken part in two Olympic finals in Beijing.

Bronze medal went to the Chinese shooter SHI Xinglong, 32-year old, who finished in third with 685.9 points (584+101.9) winning the battle for the podium against Mikhail NETRUEV o Russia, fourth today.