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400 shooters will compete in the third step of this year’s Rifle and Pistol World Cup Series which started-off at the international shooting range of Fort Benning, Gerogia, USA.

Following the first two steps of Sydney and Beijing, the ISSF World Cup Series in Rifle and Pistol events moved to USA, where about 400 shooters coming from 52 countries came to compete in the ten Olympic events of Rifle and Pistol shooting at the International Shooting Range of Fort Benning, Georgia.

The official start to the competition was given at the opening ceremony held at the new Ft. Benning’s Infantry Musueum, where athletes’ delegations had a chance to meet the organizers and the official of the World Cup event.

Lindsay Brooke, the Deputy Chief of the 2010 World Cup Organizing Committee, started off the ceremony by welcoming the athletes: “We are grateful for such strong participation this year and we look forward to providing you with the best possible experience here!” she said, leaving then the stage to Mr. Robert Mitchell, USA Shooting Executive Director and member of the ISSF Executive Committee, and to Mr. Gary Anderson, the ISSF Vice President and President of USA Shooting, who addressed a welcome peech to athletes and local authorities.

“On behalf of the ISSF and USA Shooting, I’d like to welcome the best rifle and pistol shooters of the world. – said Mr. Anderson – Welcome to USA and to the 2010 ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning!”

“We are honoured to organize this World Cup and to once agaig bring together the worldwide shooting sport family!” concluded Mr. Anderson, before declaring the competition officially opened.

FIRST MEDALS:

The 10m Air Rifle Men and the 10m Air Pistol Women, the first two medal matches of this ISSF World Cup Stage, will take place today, May the 24th, at 12.00 and 15.30 respectively (GMT-5).

The American team keeps on winning at the ISSF World Cup in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events in Beijing. Joseph Hein and Eric Uptagrafft finished on the podium of the 50m Rifle Prone Men event, securing Gold and Silver. Germany’s Henri Junghaenel claimed Silver squeezing between them by a few tenths.

Three shooters entered the 50m Rifle Prone match tied in the lead with 598 points after the qualifications, and fought right to the end for the Gold.

USA’s Joseph Hein and Eric Uptagrafft, and the German shooter Henri Junghaenel went back and forth in first, second and third position throughout the ten-shot final, in a close battle for the medals.

Joseph Hein, 28, competing in an ISSF Word Cup final round for the first time in the 50m Rifle Prone Men event, started off the round with a great 10.8 that put him in the lead. In spite of struggling on the third and fourth shot (when he scored two 9.9), the young American shooter managed to keep the leadership by a few, precious, tenths, by shooting a couple of great shots in the inner tenths. The 28-year old athlete eventually finished on the highest step of the podium, claiming Gold with a total score of 702.2 points (598+104.2), and just three tenths of advantage on the Silver medallist.

His teammate Eric Uptagrafft and Germany’s Henri Junghaenel duelled right to the last shot for the Silver medal. The experienced 44-year old American shooter (a 1996 Olympian who scored a world record in 2005) lost his chance at the last shot by firing a frustrating 9.9 that landed him in third place with a total score of 701.2 points. On the other side, the 22-year old first time finalist Junghaenel closed the round with an outstanding 10.8, finishing on the second step of the podium with a total score of 701.9 points, just seven tenths more than Uptagrafft.

Uptagrafft, coming back on an ISSF podium after missing since 2005, also risked loosing the Bronze, as the two-time Olympic Bronze medallist Segei Martynov of Belarus placed in fourth just one tenth of a point behind him. Martinov indeed closed with a total score of 701.1 points, climbing up from the eighth qualification spot by shooting today’s highest score in the final, 105.1 points. The Belarusian shooter had won a World Cup Bronze just a few weeks ago, at the first ISSF World Cup Stage of the season, in Sydney.

France’s Josselin Henry finished in fourth, followed by the second German finalist, Maik Eckhardt. The four-time Russian Olympian Artem Khadjibekov followed them in seventh, while Japan’s Toshikazu Yamashita closed the match in eighth place.

The Norwegian athlete claimed his second, consecutive, ISSF World Cup Skeet Gold medal. With a final score of 149 hits, he turned out to be unreachable for his opponents. Ukraine’s Milchev and Italy’s Lodde closed in second and third place with a total score of 146 targets.

It was a great day today for the 2008 Olympic Silver medallist Tore Brovold, who won his second consecutive ISSF World Cup Gold medal of the season with a total score of 149 targets at the 2010 ISSF World Cup in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events in Beijing.

Brovold built up his victory starting from the qualifications, entering into the final with an excellent qualification score of 124 targets, and with two targets of advantage on the other finalists. During the final match, the Norwegian shooter did not miss a single target, clearing the eight stations with 25 hits out of 25 targets, and claiming Gold with a total score of 149 hits.

Tore Brovold, 39, is currently ranked second in the world, and stands as the best Skeet shooter of the 2010 season. He started off by winning Gold at the first World Cup Stage of the year, in Acapulco (MEX), and repeated himself here in Beijing, at the second 2010 World Cup Stage. The next two World Cup Stages of Dorset (GBR) and Lonato (ITA) divide him from the 2010 ISSF World Championship in all events, where the first Olympic Quota Places for the 2012 Olympic Games will be distributed to the best performers. There Brovold will meet some of the best Skeet shooters of the World, including USA’s Vincent Hancock, the 2008 Olympic Champion, who did not participate here in Beijing.

While Brovold was running for today’s Gold, two shooters animated the fight for Silver behind him. The 2000 Olympic Champion Mikola Milchev of Ukraine and the first time finalist Luigi Lodde of Italy duelled for the second spot of the podium right to the last clay.

The two athletes qualified for the final tied with a score of 122 hits, and both hit 24 clays during the final round, ending up tied in second place with a total score of 146 targets. In the following shoot-off, Lodde missed a target of the very first double, leaving the second step of the podium to Milchev, who hit both claiming Silver. Lodde ended up with the Bronze, his first ISSF medal ever with 146+1 hits.

The Chinese hope Dun Yueheng, 26, a first time finalist, ended up in fourth place with a total score of 144 hits (120+24), while Germany’s Tino Wenzel closed the round in fifth with 143 targets after outdoing UAE’s Saif Bin Futtias 4 to 3 hits in shoot-off.

The ISSF Technical Delegate Keith Murray officially closed the last leg of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series. USA won the medal standings, followed by the People’s Republic of China.

15.06-24.06.2009