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Finals 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men

Germany's unstoppable Reitz won the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men final in Maribor

ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol · Maribor, SLO

Nobody could stop Germany's Christian Reitz, today. The 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist won the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men final at the 2014 ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Maribor, outscoring the Chinese finalist Zhang Jian in a shoot-off for Gold.

Christian Reitz started off by leading the qualifications with 587 points, this morning. Then, in the final, when the scores were set back to zero, he build up his lead once again, dulling shoulder and shoulder against the 2010 ISSF World Championship Silver medallist Zhang Jian of the People's Republic of China right to the last series.

 

It ended up in a draw: both Reitz and Zhang scored 30 hits, and a shoot-off was necessary to assign the brightest medal. The German finalist, with the experience of his 15 World Cup medals won in career, did not suffer the pressure of the tie-breaker series, and scored 5 hits, beating his Chinese opponents' score of 2 hits.

 

“I was a bit nervous going into the final. I started with a good series, and then I dropped down. But then I was able to climb back again, and I have been lucky at the shoot-off.” The German shooter admitted after the final.

 

Reitz is the man to beat, in the Rapid Fire event. He's currently ranked first in the world in this event, and he holds the world record. This year, he finished on the podium of each of the three world cup legs conducted so far, in Fort Benning, Munich and Maribor, proving to be in great shape.

 

And that's a great news for the German team, as we get closer to the 51st ISSF World Championship, which will be held in Granada, Spain, starting for September 5, this year. There, the first Olympic Quota places for Rio 2016 will be assigned, and Reitz is the number one in line to secure one.

 

There, he will certainly meet again today's Silver medallist Zhang, as well as the Russian shooter who pocketed the Bronze, Leonid Ekimov, who stepped upon today's podium with 24 hits, preceding the second German finalist Oliver Geis (fourth with 20 hits), USA's Keith Sanderson (fifth with 15 hits) and Martin Strnad of the Czech Republic (sixth with 10 hits).

 

Ekimov, 26, is considered to be one of the best pistol shooters of the world. He finished fourth at the last two world championships, in 2006 (when he was competing as a junior) and in 2010. In the meantime, he won the 2010 Wolrd Cup Series, and built up some international experience. Granda could be his chance to finish in the spotlights again. Pressure back on Reitz.

 

 

 

 

VIDEO - Finals 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men

25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Highlights

17.06.2014

Marco Dalla Dea

 

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