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Finals 10m Air Rifle Men

17-year old Yang (CHN) finished atop of a young 10m Air Rifle Men podium

ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol · Fort Benning, USA

With an average age of the medallists of 21 years, today’s 10m Air Rifle Men podium will probably be tagged as one of the youngest ISSF World Cup podiums ever.

 

Today’s youngest finalist, China’s 17-year old Yang Haoran, won the 10m Air Rifle Men event, leading one of the youngest ISSF World Cup podiums ever.

 

Yang turned out to be in great shape, today, and left few chances to his opponents. After qualifying in second with 627.5 points (setting the new Junior World Record), the Chinese shooter scored 208.7 points during the final, finishing in first with more than 2 points of advantage on his followers.

 

His opponents knew it that he was a skilled rifle shooter, as he had won the 2012 Asian Championship Gold medal at the age of 16. But to win an ISSF World Cup Gold medal, competing against some of the best rifle shooters of the world, at his first try, with such a margin, defied any odds.

 

“I was very excited during the final. It has been a new experience. I was set for the best, but I did not expect to win the Gold at my first try.” Yang said after the final.

 

“I train constantly, five days a week, morning and afternoon. It’s hard work, but this result pays it off.” He added.

 

“I wish I could participate in more ISSF competitions in the future, in order to gain experience and self confidence.” The young Chinese shooter said, speaking about the months to come.

 

The Silver medal went to the home shooter, Dempster Christenson, 22, from USA, who shot 206.4 points in the final to climb upon the second step of the podium. The young medallist had never taken part in an ISSF final, before, and so far his best result had been a 13th place in Munich, three years ago.

 

What boosted his results? Christenson just made it to the US Olympic Training Center, and lives now in Colorado Springs, where he said he’s found the best possible training environment.

 

“It’s allowed me to focus on what I want to do in this sport,” said the 22-year-old South Dakota native. 

 

“Being able to shoot at the Training Center, everything just opens up because you don’t have all these other obligations and you can focus everything you have on what you want to do.”

 

Christenson was followed by the reigning European Champion, 24-year old Sergey Richter of Israel, who won Bronze with 184.5 points, after qualifying for the match with 623.1 points.

 

Germany’s Julian Justus finished outside of the podium, leaving the match in fourth place with 162.1 points. Two Russian teammates, Nazar Louginets and Serguei Kruglov, followed in sixth and seventh place with 142.3 and 121.4 points, respectively.

 

Hungary’s Champion Peter Sidi, who had led the qualification rounds and set a new World Record of 631.9 points, did not perform at his best at the final. The 34-year old four-time Olympian was the first to leave the match after the first eight shots, with a final score of 78.4 points.

 

 

Marco Dalla Dea

 

ISSF Partners