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USA’s Olympic multi-medallist won the Skeet Women event with 98 hits, after equalling the World Record of 74 hits out of 75 targets during the qualifications. Two Chinese shooters followed her in second and third place, winning the applauses of the home crowd.

The two-time Olympic Champion Kimberly Rhode of the USA won today’s Skeet Women final at the ISSF World Cup in all events in Beijing, equalling the World Record of 74 hits out of 75 targets during the qualifications. Rhode had won an Olympic Silver medal here in Beijing two years ago, during the 2008 Games.

The 30-year old American shooter made it into today’s final match with the highest qualification score, 74 hits, equalling the World Record and walking into the match with a two-target head start on her followers. Hitting 24 out of 25 targets throughout the final round, she ended up in first place with a total score of 98 hits, grabbing her second World Cup Gold medal of the year. Rhode had indeed finished on the highest step of the podium also at the first World Cup Stage of the season, in Acapulco (MEX), at the beginning of March.

Chiense spectators celebrated the home shooters Shi Hong Yan and Wei Ning, finishing in second and third place, respectively.

37-year old Shi, who had won her last ISSF medal at the 2006 World Cup in Quingyuan City, entered into the final match with a qualification score of 72 hits, finishing then on the podium with a total score of 96 hits after dropping one target on the third station.

The 2004 Olympic Silver medallist Wei Ning, 27, had also qualified for the final round with 72 hits. Dropping four targets throughout the final round, she ended up in third place tied to Russia’s Svetlana Demina with a final score of 93 hits. In the following shoot-off, Wei outdid Demina 2 to 1 hits, winning her twelve ISSF World Cup medal since 2001.

Svetlana Demina, celebrating her birthday on the day of the final, finished in fourth place with a total score of 93+1 hits, followed by the third Chinese finalist Yu Xiumin with 92 hits and by the second-time finalist Monika Zemkova of Slovakia with 89 hits.

Competing in the 50m Rifle Prone Men event at the ISSF World Cup in Sydney, Australia’s Potent equalled the 600-point world record, winning Gold on the lined of his home range.

Australia’s Warren Potent won the applauses of the final hall of the Olympic Shooting Range of Sydney, today, by winning Gold at the 50m Rifle Prone Men final.

Spotlights were on the home shooter since the qualification rounds, as the Olympic Bronze medallist of Beijing had equalled the World Record to walk into the final in first with 600 points.

Nobody could then stop him during the medal match. In spite of being close-followed by India’s Joydeep Karmakar, Potent shot in the lead from the first right to the last shot, ending up on the highest step of the podium with an unreachable final score of 703.7 (600+103.7) points.

“It’s great to win a Gold medal here, on the lines of my home range. – Exclaimed Potent after the award ceremony, celebrated by a number of Australian fans - This is my second time on the highest step of this podium. I had won my first ISSF World Cup Gold medal here in Sydney, in 2007!”

“I was really nervous this morning, before shooting the record. – Kept on explaining Potent – This is my home range, but it’s never easy… I had been closed to it several time, but I had never scored 600 points in an international match before, for some reasons.”

“The final itself hasn’t been that easy too: the way in which the wind affects the shots here in the final hall is quite different than in the qualification building.” Concluded Potent, smiling as somebody reminded him that the 2007 World Cup Gold medal had been his first step on the road leading to the Olympic Podium of Beijing.

“I am now looking forward to the ISSF World Championship in Munich, – He said  - I heard that more than 2500 shooters are going to be there, because of the Olympic Quotas… That’s the first Qualification for the 2012 Games in London, it’s going to be challenging!”

The Silver medal went to India’s Joydeep Karmakar, 30-year old, a first time finalist. The Shooter from Calcutta had indeed participated in a single ISSF World Cup Stage, in Resende (BRA), four years ago, placing far behind the medal placements.

Karmakar made it to the final round with an excellent qualification score of 599 points, just one point lower than the world record equalled by Potent. By shooting 103.4 points during the final, he could not make up the disadvantage he had from the leader. His total score of 702.4 points landed him in second place, winning his first international medal ever.

“This was my first time in an ISSF World Cup final round… I have been shooting for fifteen years, but I could not reach these results, something was missing on the psychological side, which is really important in shooting. “ Said the Indian athlete right before the award ceremony.

“I started to dedicate more and more time to shooting in 2007, and these are the results. – continued Karmakar – My next goals? The Olympic Games, of course! Since Bindra’s victory at the 2008 Games, shooting has become more and more popular in India. He showed us that it is possible to get there. And I will try to get there!”

It was the expert Belarusian shooter Sergey Martynov who took today’s Bronze medal, ending up in third place with 700.7 points. The three-time Olympic Bronze medallist, and ten-time World Cup Gold medallist, shot 103.7 points in the final match, overtaking the American shooter Michael McPhail to finish on the podium with a total score of 700.7 points.

USA’s McPhail, 28-year old, missed the podium by a few tenths. The American athlete, who had claimed two World Cup Bronzes last year, could not recover from a 9.0 he fired on his sixth final shot, and ended up in fourth place with 700.5 points. Following him, Switzerland’s Marcel Buerge took the fifth spot with 699.2 points, while the second American finalist Eric Uptagrafft landed in sixth place with 697.1 points.

Gold to the 21-year old Chinese ace, Silver to India’s Sanjeev Rajput, followed in fourth and seventh place by his teammates Narang and Padinchare Thermadathil. Bronze to Austria’s Knoegler.

The 21-year old Chinese shooter Cao Yifei won the first final of the 2010 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Sydney. The young athlete led the match starting from the qualifications, and never jeopardized his chances of victory. Walking into the final match with the highest qualification score of 596 points, Cao scored a total of 102.8 points during the final, securing the first Gold medal of his international career with a total score of 698.8 points.

In spite of his young age, the Chinese shooter had already climbed ISSF podiums in 2008 and 2009, when he had won two Silver medals in Milan and Changwon, climbing the world ranking up to the fifth place. In the next months he will probably have to face his teammate Zhu Qinan, one of the best Air Rifle shooter of the World. The two will have to duel on the way to the 50th ISSF World Championship, where the first Olympic Quotas for London will be awarded to the best performers, next August.

The Silver medal went to India’s Sanjeev Rajput, a 29-year old shooter who had never finished on an ISSF podium before.  “I felt like I was competing in India, having two teammates next to me!” exclaimed the Silver medallist. He had in fact made it into the final together with his teammates Gagan Narang and Raghunath Padinchare Thermadathil in fifth place. Qualified with 594 points, he climbed up the scoreboard to the second place by shooting today’s highest final score, 103.9 points.

The World Record holder Gagan Narang, also from India, was left in fourth with a total score of 696.8 points. After starting in eighth place, with the lower qualification score, the Indian ace climbed up the scoreboard by firing 102.8 points, finishing just one tenth of a point far from the podium “I am working on my equipment, there is still a 15% to be tuned up to reach the best conditions” Said Narang after the match “This World Cup came early in the season. We closed the 2009 in December, with the Asian Championship in Doha, and we started preparing the Commonwealth Championship quite early, this year. There has not bee that much time to rest in between.”

“The most important competition of the year is the ISSF World Championship in Munich – Continued Narang – The first Olympic Quota Places fro London are going to be awarded there. I am going to try to peak for that match.”

Bronze went to the 30-year old Austrian finalist Mario Knoegler, 30, who placed in third with a total score of 696.9 points, while the 2009 Shooter of the Year Peter Sidi of Hungary landed in fifth place with 696.7 points.

An odds-defying final crowned Slovakia’s Marian Kovacocy as the new Trap Men World Champion. Kovacocy outdid Italy’s Fabbrizzi at the very last shot, winning Gold with a total score of 146 hits.

Italy’s Valerio GRAZINI won the Trap Men Junior competition, securing the first Gold medal of the 2009 ISSF Shotgun World Championship of Maribor.