50m Rifle Prone Men
A balanced competition is expected to decide who will enter the final of the men’s 50m Rifle Prone in Gabala (AZE).
A pack of experienced shooters will surely compete for a spot among the finalists, including Belarus’ 42-year-old Vitali Bubnovich, currently ranked 7th in the world, Brazil’s 39-year-old Cesar Cassio Rippel, Gold medalist at the Toronto 2015 Pan-American Games, and Denmark’s 41-year-old Torben Grimmel, a 13-time World Cup medalist in this event.
The first World Cup Gold of the season, delivered in New Delhi (IND) last February, was won by Japan’s 40-year-old Yamashita Toshikazu, who in the same occasion set the new World Record.
After claiming five medals out of the first five events in Gabala, the Chinese National Team will try to enrich its medal counts with a trio of shooters composed by Cao Yifei (29), Hui Zicheng (28) and Yao Yucong (21), all looking for their first medal in this specific event.
Austrian 27-year-old Thomas Mathis will try to enter the top-8 for the second straight time, after placing 3rd in Munich.
The final is scheduled at 10:15 pm (UTC+4:00) and it will be live streamed on the ISSF official Facebook page, on issf-sports.org and on its Livestream channel.
10m Air Pistol Women
A few months after establishing the new World Record at the European Championship in Maribor (SLO), Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic will try to climb back atop the World Cup podium. The 30-year-old, indeed, won her last Gold medal two years ago in the same range where she will compete today: the Gabala Shooting Club.
Alongside her, also representing Serbia, the two-time European Champion Bobana Velickovic (27).
Among the favorites for a spot in the final is also Russian Federation’s 20-year-old Vitalina Batsarashkina, Olympic Silver medalist at Rio 2016 and Junior European Champion in Maribor in 2015. The Russian flag will also be born by Alena Doroshkevich (23) and Margarita Lomova (21), Gold medalist at last year’s Junior World Cup in Gabala.
The home Azerbaijani team will lineup a trio of shooters composed by Nazrin Abbasli (17), Zarifa Kasoumova (49) and Nigar Nasirova (29).
The final is scheduled at 11:45 pm (UTC+4:00) and it will be live streamed on the ISSF official Facebook page, on issf-sports.org and on its Livestream channel.
10m Air Pistol Men
In the third and final event of the day, 65 men’s 10m Air Pistol shooters will represent 28 countries and battle for the third seasonal podium in this event.
Brazil’s Felipe Almeida Wu and Japan’s Matsuda Tomoyuki, currently number 2 and 3 in the World Ranking, will lead a group of shooters who will battle for a spot among the top-8. The 41-year-old Japanese will enter the range after claiming two medals out of the two previous World Cup stages, while Wu will try to grab his first international medal since the Silver he won at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
21-year-old Artem Chernousov of the Russian Federation, who won Gold in Gabala at last year’s Junior World Cup, will also compete for a spot among the final participants, along with experienced teammates Vladimir Gontcharov (40) and Anton Gourianov (37).
The Azerbaijani flag will be represented by 24-year-old Tahir Ahmedzade, 27-year-old Ruslan Lunev and 37-year-old Rahim Rahimov.
The final is scheduled at 4:15 pm (UTC+4:00) and it will be live streamed on the ISSF official Facebook page, on issf-sports.org and on its Livestream channel.