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All the participants will experience at least one final round, to test the new rules and the new competition format that will apply to the 2012 Olympic Games.

The ISSF Rapid Fire Grand Prix, organized to present the new Rapid Fire rules, kicked-off at the 1972 Olympic Shooting Range of Munich, today. The formula of the Grand Prix has been studied to give to all participants the chance to participate at least in one final round, to test the new format. The 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event’s rules and format have indeed been recently updated, with the aim to increase the popularity of the event.

With the new format, the six finalists are shooting together, one after the other, sharing three shooting bays of five targets. The scoring system is now based on a “hit & miss” system, and points are no longer displayed in the final. The regular Rapid Fire targets used in the past are indeed set to display a “hit” when 9.7 points or better are scored, and a “miss” when the finalist scores less than that value.

The new final round consists in eight series. After the first four series, the finalist with the lowest score leaves the match, and so on right to the height series, when the last two shooters duel for the Gold medal.

The new competition format, which was presented at the 2010 ISSF World Cup Final held in Munich, will be adopted throughout the 2011 and 2012 ISSF World Cup Series, and will be in use at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Seven final-style matches took place today, so that all the participants had a try with the new format. The six best shooters were then picked to participate in the “Best Of” final that is going to take place tomorrow.

The home champion Jan-Marcel Goelden won a pass for the “Best Of” final with 29 hits, the same score of Paal Hembre of Norway, who will also participate in tomorrow’s final. Two teammates, France’s Fabrice Daumal and Thibaut Sauvage qualified with 28 hits, while it was Poland’s Radoslaw Podgorski who shot the highest qualification, 30 hits. The last finalist, Czech Republic’s Martin Podhrasky, made it to the final with 27 hits, after fighting neck and neck against his teammate Martyn Strnad in a long-lasting shoot-off, which he eventually won 4-3-3-5 to 4-3-3-4 hits.

Next to the “Best Of” final, a regular 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men competition will be conducted, with qualification rounds and a final taking place tomorrow.

Thirty-seven athletes coming from fourteen countries are competing in this ISSF Grand Prix, trying to secure the golden prices offered by ISSF: a 50-gram gold bar will be awarded to both the winners of the Grand Prix and of the “Best Of” finals, while the Silver and the Bronze medalists will receive a one ounce bar and a 20-gram gold bar, respectively.

The ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña opened the 2010 ISSF World Cup in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events in Beijing, welcoming the shooters to the 2008 Olympic venues during today’s opening ceremony. The ISSF is back on the 2008 Olympic venues of Beijing, were the 2010 World Cup Stage in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events is held from the 16th through the 25th of March. The ISSF President, Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña, officially opened the competition today, welcoming more than 600 shooters from all around the world. “It is with pleasure that we come back to this beautiful range, constructed for the 2008 Olympic Games, which is one of the best shooting venues of the World. – Said the President, speaking at the opening ceremony – I would like to thanks our host, the Chinese shooting Federation, and wish you all the best success in this competition!” The President of the Organizing Committee, and Vice-President of the Chinese Shooting Association, Mr. Zhang Liang, welcomed the participants to Beijing, inviting the President of the Chinese Shooting Federation Mr. Feng Jianzhong, to officially declare the competition opened. The Opening Ceremony then continued with a traditional Chinese drama performed by dancers, actors and acrobats of the China National Peking Opera Company. The ISSF World Cup in all events in Beijing is the third World Cup Stage of the year, following the World Cup in Shotgun events in Acapulco and the World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Sydney. Beijing’s is a fundamental step on the path leading to the 50th ISSF World Championship in all events that will take place in Munich between July and August, this year. There, the first Quota Places for the 2012 Olympic Games of London will be distributed to the best performers.