The first edition of the ISSF Junior Cup, held in Suhl (GER) has kicked off. “Large participation is an excellent news”, ISSF Secretary General Schreiber said.
The first ISSF Junior Cup has officially started at the shooting range of Suhl, Germany, where the competition is held from the 26 of May through the 1 of June.
Over 630 athletes coming from 44 nations have registered to take part in the competition, which is also a MQS qualifier for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing. With 114 athletes competing on their home turf, Germany turned out to be the largest participating team, followed by the Russian Federation (58) and India (54).
“The high participation recorded at this first ISSF Junior Cup is an excellent news for our sport, which keeps on attracting young athletes.” The ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said. “We have to thank the organizers, the German Shooting Federation, for their great job.”
Young athletes from all over the world will have a chance to participate in 18 different events, including the 15 Olympic Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events, as well as in the new ISSF Target Sprint event which combines rifle shooting and running. In addition, Junior Super-Cup Mixed Air Rifle and Air Pistol event, as well as Mixed Team Air Rifle and Air Pistol matches, will be conducted during the event.
The fist medal of this ISSF Junior Cup went to Vitalina Batsarashkina from Russia, on the 26 of May. The 17-year old Air Pistol athlete won the Junior Supercup Air Rifle and Air Pistol event with a score of 3 to 1 against the 17-year old Air Rifle shooter Klavdija Jerovsek from Slovenia. Shryanka Sadangi of India won the Bronze medal match defeating Ilya Lipkin from Russia by 3 to 2.
USA's 20-yer old Ian Rupert (photo) won the first Shotgun shooting medal, securing the Double Trap Men Gold after a thrilling medal match. The American athlete passed through the qualifications with 138 hits, and then made it to the Gold medal match with 26 hits in the semi-final. There, he met and defeat his Russian opponent Kirill Fokeev by 29 to 27 hits. Italy's Andrea Vescovi climbed upon the third step of the podium, after beating the second Russian finalist Viacheslav Yukhimenko in the Bronze medal match. Thanks to Vescovi's score, Italy finished atop of the teams' podium with 409 total hits, followed by USA (406 hits) and by the Russian Federation (402 hits).
Further results of the competition can be found here: http://www.results.sius.com/Events.aspx?Championship=ISSFJuniorCupMQSCompetitionforYOG201420140526SuhlGER