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Today’s 10m Air Pistol Women final has been a stage of success for both Korea and Australia. Korea’s Park Minjin won Gold at her first try: she had never competed in an ISSF international match before. Australia won its first medal thanks to Dina Aspandiyarova who came back to victory in an ISSF competition by claiming today’s Silver. She was the first Australian shooter to enter a final, during this ISSF World Cup in Sydney.

The whole Korean Shooting team sang their national anthem loud, at the end of today’s 10m Air Pistol Women Final, at the ISSF World Cup in Sydney. Their 22-year old teammate Park Minjin had just won the first Gold medal of her career.

The young shooter surprised everybody by winning Gold at her first try, outdoing former Olympic medallists and ISSF World Cup multi-medallists with apparent ease.

Park walked into the final round in fourth place with 382 points after the qualifications, two points behind the leader Chen Yan, of China and tied with the second Chinese finalist, the Olympic Champion of Beijing Guo Wenjun, currently ranked first in the world in this event.

Shooting consistently throughout the whole match, Park climbed and climbed, bouncing in the lead thanks to a final score of 102.2 points. Together with her qualification score, she totalized 484.2 points, securing Gold with a safe margin on her followers.

Coming in second, Dina Aspandiyarova won the first medal for the host country, Australia. The 33-year old Olympic finalist of Sydney 2000 ended up in second place with a total score of 481.7 (383+98.7) points, winning her first World Cup medal in this event.

Aspandiyarova was followed in third by the 2008 Olympic Champion Guo Wenjun, 25, from China. The world ranking leader, who had qualified tied with Park with 382 points, finished in third with a total score of 481.0 points, after shooting 99.0 points during the final. She had won her last World Cup medal in 2009, when she had closed the season with a Gold medal in Milan.

Two of the best pistol shooters of the World, Bulgaria’s Maria Grozdeva and Serbia’s Jasna Sekaric, ten Olympic medals between the two, finished in fourth and seventh place, with 480.7 and 477.2 points, respectively.

The second Korean finalist Jung Jeehae and the young Indian champion Shweta Chaudhry placed in fifth and sixth place, with 480.6 and 479.8 points, respectively.

The first ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup of the year kicked-off in Sydney, Australia, today. Shooters from all around the world will compete here right to the 28th of March.

The 2010 ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events kicked-off today in Sydney, Australia, where more than 200 shooters will compete from the 21^st to the 28^th of March.

“I welcome the shooters to the first ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup stage of the year in behalf of the International Shooting Sport Federation” said the ISSF Technical Delegate for this event, Mr Woo Jae Lee from Korea, during the opening ceremony.

Mr Peter Sharp of the Australian Sport Commission, and the President of the Organizing Committee, Mr Nick Sullivan, welcomed the shooters to the 2000 Olympic Shooting Range of Sydney, where the athletes will compete in the ten Olympic events of Rifle and Pistol Shooting. A symbolic shot of cannon was then fired, and the competition officially opened.

Here, athletes coming from more than 25 countries will have a chance to obtain their Minimum Qualification Scores, a fundamental step on the path leading to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

20.03-28.03.2010

Following the cancellation of the World Cup Stage in India, the ISSF reassigned the first World Cup in Rifle and Pistol to Australia.

The first 2010 ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events will be held in Sydney, Australia, from the 20th through the 28th of March. The competition will take place at the 2000 Olympic Shooting Range of Sydney, which hosted an ISSF World Cup in 2007.

The World Cup Stage was originally scheduled to take place in India, but the ISSF decided to assign it to Australia as New Delhi’s Organizing Committee withdrew its application.

“We are naturally delighted, as this will mean that the Australians will have an opportunity to compete on their home soil against the world’s best athletes. – Said the CEO of Australian Shooting Association Nick Sullivan - This will play a very important part in the lead up to both the International Shooting Sports Federation’s World Championships and the Commonwealth Games to be held later in the year.”