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The first stage of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series in Chile awarded 10 Quota Places. 750 shooters are expected to participate in the next stage, in Sydney.

A total of 10 Olympic Quota Places were awarded during the first stage of the 2011 ISSF Shotgun World Cup Series, which was held in Concepcion, Chile, from the 1st to the 9th of March.

2011 ISSF WC in Concecpcion (CHI) – Quota Places by event:

EVENT QUOTA 1
QUOTA 2
Trap Men Oguzhan TUZUN (TUR) Pavel GURKIN (RUS)
Double Trap Men
Vitaly FOKEEV (RUS)

Robert WILSON (GBR)
Skeet Men Jan SYCHRA (CZE)

Tore BROVOLD (NOR)
Trap Women Alessandra PERILLI (SMR) Fatima GALVEZ (ESP)
Skeet Women Chiara CAINERO (ITA)

Marina EZHOVA (RUS)

The ISSF World Cup Series moves now to Sydney, Australia. There, on the lines of the 2000 Olympic Shooting Range, the second ISSF WC Stage of the year will be held form the 21 of March to the 1 of April. A competition which is announced to be massive: 759 athletes coming from 66 countries have already registered to participate in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events, trying to secure one of the 34 passes to the next Games.

China and Russia led the Quota’s standings. Sixty-nine Olympic Quota Place, the entrance tickets to the 2012 Olympic Games, have been distributed by the ISSF to 26 different countries, during the 50th ISSF World Championship in all events, the first Olympic qualifier for London 2012.

“The shooting sport are popular all around the world, and they are a true base sport practiced in all the continents,” said the International Olympic Committee’s Sports Director Christophe Dubi, while visiting the competition four days ago.

And the 50^th ISSF World Championship kept up with the expectations of universalities, distributing Olympic Quotas to 26 different countries. From Russia to India, form Iran to USA, form Korea to Turkey, sixty-nine athletes won an Olympic pass to London 2012.

Shooting has been contested at most of the Olympic Games. The sport first appeared in 1896. There were also events in 1900, but none were contested during the 1904 and 1928 Games.

The programme has varied just as much as any of the other sports (with the possible exception of sailing/yachting). In 1908, 1912, 1920 and 1924 there were dozens of events, including multiple team events. Thus it was possible for shooters to win many medals at these Olympics. After a hiatus in 1928, the sport returned to the Olympics in 1932 with only two events – one for pistols and one for rifles. Since World War II the programme has become relatively standardised.

Women were first allowed to compete in Olympic shooting in 1968. In that year Mexico, Peru and Poland each entered one female contestant. In 1984 the International Shooting Union (UIT) now called the ISSF – International Shooting Sport Federation introduced separate events for women. Between 1984 and 1992 the number of women’s events increased gradually. In addition, several of the events on the programme remained mixed, i.e. open to both men and women. As of 1996 in Atlanta, the shooting programme was segregated, with men’s events being separated from the women’s.

(BEIJING, August 13) — Despite being five points behind Mongolia’s Gundegmaa Otryad after qualification, China’s Chen Ying today won the gold medal in the Women’s 25m Pistol, with her final score of 590 points equaling the Olympic record.

Chen’s first round of five rapid shots in the final scored 52.5 points, which cut the deficit down to 3.6 after Otryad shot 51.1. Otryad’s lead was further decreased to 1.6 after the second round of five shots when Chen scored 53.1 and Otryad scored two full points less.

Drama ensued when Otryad’s pistol locked up after she scored a disappointing 9.0 on the 11th shot. Oblivious to Otryad’s problems, Chen marched past the Mongolian shooter on the leader board with 52.5 points from the third round of five shots (including 10.8 and 10.7 on the last two shots), and never looked back. After fixing her pistol, Otryad scored only 49 in the third round of five shots, trailing behind Chen by 1.9 points.
Chen scored 50.3 on her last five shots, with her final score of 793.4 breaking the Olympic record. Otryad scored 51.0 and held onto second place with 792.2. Dorjsuren Munkhbayar of Germany, who won a bronze medal in the same event shooting for Mongolia at Barcelona 1992, finished third with 789.2.

Bulgarian Maria Grozdeva, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, came fifth with 786.6 following China’s Fei Fengji who finished fourth with 787.9.

(BEIJING, August 12) — The United States’ Walton Eller set an Olympic final record by taking the gold in the Men’s Double Trap while Jin Jong-oh won gold for the Republic of Korea in the Men’s 50m Pistol with a margin of just 0.2 at the Beijing Shooting Range on Tuesday.
 
Eller broke both the Olympic qualification and final records that were set by defending gold medalist Ahmed Al-Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates in Athens. Eller, who finished 17th at Athens 2004, shot steadily (45 out of 50) in the final to claim the United States’ first-ever gold in the event.
 
In the Men’s 50m Pistol, Jin, silver medalist in Athens, entered the final ranked sixth but gained the lead from the first shot, which he lost only once on his fourth shot when he scored 8.5. He made a shaky 8.2 on his final shot but held on to win the gold medal.
 
Kim Jong-su of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea scored an impressive 10.5 on his last shot, but it was not enough to close the gap and he was forced to settle for the silver medal, his second medal in Beijing. He won the bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol on August 9.  
 
Favorite Tan Zongliang of China earned his first Olympic medal – a bronze – with a score of 659.5. He was first after the qualification round, but a poor first shot (7.9) dropped him to sixth and he was unable to regain the lead.
 
In the Men’s Double Trap, World No. 8 Francesco D Aniello of Italy earned his first Olympic medal and Italy’s second silver medal at the Beijing 2008 Shooting competition. The first silver medal was won by Giovanni Pellielo in the Men’s Trap. After the final ended, D Aniello kneeled on the grass and cried tears of happiness when he realized that he had secured the silver medal.
 
The local favorite, Hu Binyuan of China, who finished fourth at Athens 2004, hit 46 of the 50 targets in the final to win the bronze medal. China also won bronze medals in Men’s Double Trap at Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004.
 
Both Hu and D Aniello shot the highest number of targets in the final (46 out of 50). The two other Olympic medalists in the final, Russell Mark of Australia and Richard Faulds of Great Britain, finished fifth and sixth respectively.