Mikec won the 10m Air Pistol Men Gold
The Serbian shooter claimed his first ISSF World Cup Gold. Following him, two first time medallists in this event: Kazakhstan’s Yunusmetov and the Olympic Champion Pang of China.
“The dream came true! I have been looking for this medal for years, since I started shooting, back in 2000!” said Damir Mikec, the Serbian shooter who won today’s 10m Air Pistol Men final at the ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Fort Benning, USA.
“I have a new stock since three weeks, it feels good and made me confident, today – said the 26-year old Serbian athlete – during the final, I could see the scores’ monitor. I tried not to look at it, but eventually I noticed that I was in the lead. I was feeling nervous!”
Mikec, shooting since the age of 16, had competed in several ISSS World Cup stages, winning his first ISSF medal just weeks ago, in Beijing, climbing the world ranking up to the fourth place. Walking into today’s final in first spot, with a qualification score of 586 points, he secured the brightest medal with a total score of 687.1 points after scoring 101.1 points throughout the ten-shot final.
“The next World Cup is going to be in Belgrade, my home city. It feels great to walk into your home shooting range with a Gold around your neck. – Said the young shooter – But I shouldn’t forget that the final aim is the World Championship in Munich – continued Mikec, mentioning the 50th ISSF World Championship in all events that will take place between July and August – I am working hard to get one of those 2012 Olympic Quota Places !”
The Olympic Champion of Beijing and current World Champion, China’s Pang Wei, 23, finished on the podium winning Bronze with a total score of 683.8 points. Qualified with 582 points, the Chinese champion fired 101.8 points, today’s highest final score. Incredibly, World’s most titled 10m Air Pistol Men shooter had never been able to grab a medal in ISSF World Cup competitions, in spite of participating in six editions.
Winning the Silver medal, also Kazakhstan’s Rashid Yunusmetov claimed his first ISSF World Cup medal in this event. The 30-year old athlete, an expert 50m Pistol Men competitor, had participated in several 10m Air Pistol World Cup final rounds, but he had never made it to the podium, before. Entering in the final with tied to Mikec 586 points, the Kazakh shooter fired 99.3 points, claiming Silver with 685.3 points.
