China’s Sun stole Kostevych’s show to win Air Pistol Gold

China’s 24-year old finalist Sun Qi and Ukraine’s 2004 Olympic Champion Olena Kostevych fought neck and neck right to the last shot, during today’s 10m Air Pistol Women event at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea.

The two shooters walked into the final with an equal qualification score of 391 points, tied in first place. Then, they went back and forth in first and second place throughout the whole 10-shot final, duelling over decimals to secure the Gold medal.

Eventually, it was Sun Qi who secured the brightest medal with a total score of 489.9 points, with just 0.1 of advantage on Kostevych. With the Gold medal, the Chinese shooter was also awarded an Olympic Quota Place, a pass for the next 2012 Games. Sun had never won an ISSF medal, before, and her best international placement had been a second place at the 2010 Asian Games.

The 25-year old Ukrainian champion Kostevych, who had finished in third at the previous world cup stage in Sydney winning there an Olympic Quota, landed on the second step of today’s podium, pocketing the Silver with 489.8 points.

Georogia’s three-times Olympic medallist Nino Salukvadze, who had won the previous World Cup Stage in Sydney, ended up in third place winning the Bronze medal with 486.7 (385+101.7) points, after shooting today’s highest score in the final. Climbing to the podium, she overtook Belarus’ Viktoria Chaika, 30, who closed the match in fourth with 486.2 (387+99.2) points, and left behind Antoaneta Boneva of Bulgaria, fifth with 484.6 (384+100.6) points.

The other two Olympic Quota Places went to Korea’s Park and Australia’s Aspandiyarova. The home shooter Park Minjin, boosted by the numerous spectators following at Changwon’s Final Hall, finished in sixth place with 483.6 (385+98.6) points. At the same time, the Australian shooter Dina Aspandiyarova beat Denmark’s Susanne Meyerhoff in the hurdle for the last Olympic Quota available, pocketing it with a total score of 480.2 (385+95.2) points.