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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 first leg of the 2010 ISSF Shotgun World Cup kicked-off today in Acapulco, Mexico, where the competition is taking place from the 1st through the 10th of March.

The first 2010 ISSF Shotgun World Cup Stage started today in Acapulco, Mexico, where athletes coming from 35 countries will compete in the five Olympic events of Trap, Double Trap and Skeet. Acapulco’s World Cup is the first step of this year’s ISSF competitions, leading to the ISSF World Championship in all events that will be held in Munich next July, where the first Olympic Quota Places for London 2012 will be awarded.

The ISSF President Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña leaded the opening ceremony of the competition. A number of media followed the event on site, while teams paraded through the venue and a group of local artists performed traditional dances and music.

“Welcome to the ISSF World Cup in Acapulco” said President Vazquez Raña “In the next days, we will see the best shooters of the World competing in Mexico for the first time since 1991. Here we have the unique chance to see champions from all over the world competing along the shooting starts of the future.”

“I would like to thank the authorities of the Guerrero State and of Acapulco for their support in the realization of this event – added the President – and Sr. Jorge Peña, the President of the Mexican shooting Federation, for the restless efforts he put in the organization of this World Cup. I wish the best to the athletes!”

The athletes were welcomed by the Major of Acapulco’s Municipality Dr. Manuel Añorve Baños and by the Governor of the Guerrero State, Mr. Zaferino Torreblanca, who declared opened the competition and thanked the participants of this first ISSF World Cup stage.

The first final match, the Trap Women Final, will take place tomorrow afternoon, at 4.30 PM Acapulco time (GMT-6). Follow the match on ISSF TV at www.issf-sports.org!

Five new champions walked out of this year’s ISSF World Cup Final. China closed the season on the lead with two Golds, followed by Australia, France and Germany.

The ISSF World Cup Final closed the 2009 competition season. The best shotgun shooters of the World Cup circuit, selected through the year, and the ISSF World Champions, met in Beijing to compete for the most prestigious title of the year. Ice, wind and artificial snow did not prevent the champions from shooting at their best.

The Chinese team won the overall medal standings of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Final in Shotgun events of Beijing. The home shooters made it to the top of the final rankings with two Gold and one Silver medals. The youngest Double Trap participant, Mo Junjie, secured the first Gold medal for the hosts, followed by his experienced teammate Liu Yingzi, who claimed Gold at the Trap Women final in spite of the severe weather conditions.

Three nations, Australia, France and Germany, tied in second place with one Gold medal each. It was the two-time Olympic Gold medallist Michael Diamond to bring Australia onto the overall medal standings, winning the Trap Men event in the coldest day of competition.

Beijing Olympic Bronze medallist, the France shooter Anthony Terras, claimed Gold at today’s Skeet Men event, climbing Beijing’s podium once more, 15 months after the Games.

Germany also made it to the podium, thanks to the Gold medal won by Christine Wenzel (Christine Brinker, before getting married, last September) at the Skeet Women competition.

The medal standings: