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China’s WU Yan won the 25m Pistol Women final at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea. The 30-year old Chinese athlete shot gold with a total score of 790.5 points (586+204.5), taking over the Kazakh Yuliya BONDAREVA, who had started the final on the lead after the qualifications.
WU had only competed once in the frame of the ISSF World Cup Series in 2003, when she had finished in fourth at a world cup stage held here in Changwon.

Silver went to Yuliya BONDAREVA of Kazakhstan. The two times Olympian had shot a good qualification of 589 points, finishing in first on the final’s start list, but then she struggled in the four final series, sliding in second with a total score of 788.9 points (589+199.9).

Bronze was secured by the 27-year old German shooter Stefanie THURMANN, who cried of joy right after the last shot: she had never won a world-level medal before. The German athlete shot her last award at the 2001 European Championships of Zagreb, where she had grabbed a junior Silver medal. Today she played an excellent final round and climbed up the scoreboard from the fifth place she had on the start line. She closed the final with a total of 787.2 points (582+205.2).

The 1988 Olympic Bronze medallist of Seoul, Serbia’s Jasna SEKARIC, shot the highest final of 205.7 points, but she could not go further then the 4th place due to a lower qualification score of 581 points.

Korea’s national hero JIN Jong Oh, Beijing’s Olympic champion, won the ISSF World Cup’s 50m pistol men final in front of his supporters, in a crowded final hall at the shooting range of Changwon. Qualified in first place with 575 points and with a safe advantage on his followers, the 29-year old Korean athlete shot with ease his way to the highest step of the podium, closing the match in first with a total score of 674.6 points (575+99.6).

JIN has never stopped after the Games, he keeps on winning and this seems to be his golden period. After shooting gold and silver at the Games of Beijing in the 50 and 10 meters pistol events, he has leaded the 2008 ISSF World Final of Bangkok which closed the past sport season, and shared with Czech’s Katerina Emmons the title of “2008 shooter of the year” assigned by the sport journalists.

Leonid EKIMOV, the young and talented Russian pistol shooter who has leaded three European Championship as junior shooter between 2004 and 2007, placed in second today, winning Silver with a total of 665 points (573+92).

The 21-year EKIMOV proved to be a growing pistol start, and secured his spot on the podium after battling against two titled teammate, the 2004 and the 1996 Olympic Champions NESTRUEV and KOKOREV.

Mikhail NESTRUEV, 40-years old, and Boris KOKOREV, 49-year old, shot neck and neck for Bronze right to the last shots, in a breathtaking duel for the podium. NESTRUEV, a 2004 Olympic Champion who has struggled at the last Beijing’s Game, won the contest and placed in third winning Bronze with 662.2 points (567+95.2). His teammate KOKOREV followed him in fourth place with 660.6 points (567+93.6).

The 20-year old shooter LEE Daemyung, the second Korean finalist, closed the match in fifth, preceding China’s SHI Xinglong, today’s sixth.

Rashid YUNUSMETOV of Kazakhstan finished the round in seventh, while the German shooter Hans Joerg MEYER closed in eighth place. He had entered the final round by outdoing his teammate Florian SCHMIDT in a shoot-off.

Korean shooter LEE Da Hye turned out to be unlucky at today’s 10m Air Rifle Women event, at the ISSF World Cup in rifle and pistol events in Changwon, Korea.
Shooting in front of her home spectators, the 21-year old rifle shooter LEE, a new face from Korea, lost the gold medal on her last competition shot. Qualified in second with a score of 398 points, the local hero climbed in the lead after a few shots, and kept the place right to the end, fighting neck and neck against her Chinese opponents Jieqiong XIE and YIN Wen.

The three shooters tied in the lead after the 9th competition shot, so that the 10th and last final shot turned into a shoot-off for gold. Pressure probably tricked the young LEE, when she fired a disappointing 9.5 that pulled her out of the lead to land in third place with a total score of 499.7 points (398+101.7).

The 26-year old Chinese shooter YIN Wen took advantage of LEE’s defiance and to move in first place with a shot of 10.4 points, grabbing the gold medal with a total score of 500.6 points (396+104.6). YIN is known to be an expert 50m rife three positions shooter, and she seldom competes in the 10m air rifle event. But she makes an exception for the shooting range of Changwon, where she had already won two world cup medals in this event in 2003 and 2005.

YIN’s teammate, 20-year old XIE Jieqiong of China, secured silver with a total score of 500.5 points (398+102.5) by shooting a last shot of 10.3 points. Her placement on the podium next to her teammate YIN highlighted once more the overall excellent performance of the Chinese team, which entered three shooters into the final and placed two of them on the podium.

The second Korean finalist, PARK Eun Gyeong, finished in fifth place with 497.9 points (396+101.9), while the 2007 Pan American Games silver medallist Amy SOWASH of the United States of America placed in sixth with 497.2 points (395+102.2) after coming back form the eight place she had on the start list.

The 2009 ISSF World Cup Series kicked-off today in Changwon, Korea, where more then 450 starts were registered for the first world cup stage in rifle and pistol events, which takes place between the 9th and 16th of April. This competition opens a new Olympic cycle that, starting from here, leads to the 2012 Games of London.
Shooters from all around the world met to compete in the 10 Olympic rifle and pistol events at the well-known shooting range of Changwon, where 11 ISSF world cups have been hosted since 1987.

“Dear shooters! I hope that all of you may have good results to enhance your national prestige and your personal honour!” said Mr. KIM Jung, the President of the Organizing Committee, while welcoming the participants at the opening ceremony.
Mr. LI Feng, the ISSF Technical Delegate for this World Cup Stage, speaking in behalf of the ISSF President Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña and the of the ISSF Secretary General Mr. Horst Schreiber, welcomed the shooters along with the Major of Changwon, Mr. PARK Wan-Su “Our Korean hosts are working with enthusiasm to achieve a successful competition – said Mr. LI Feng while speaking at the opening ceremony – This is a beautiful range, and it has been renewed with new electronic targets. We are confident that our shooters will bring back home great memories thanks to the excellent job done by our friends of the Korean Shooting Federation.”

Mr. LEE Woo-Jae, member of the ISSF Administrative Council, declared the competition officially opened, and then presided to the oath of shooters and referees in front of the authorities, a solemn promise to compete and judge in fair play in the interest of the sport-soul and of the International Shooting family. The opening ceremony was then concluded by Korean dance and music performances sponsored by the organizing committee.

The first final, the 10m Air Rifle Men event, will take place tomorrow, April 10th, at 1.30 PM Changwon time (UTC/GMT + 9 hours).

Keep on following the ISSF website for updated results and further news about the event!