Today’s 25m Pistol Women final turned out to be a close neck and neck fight between Beijing’s Olympic Bronze medallist Munkhbayar DORJSUREN of Germany and the three Chinese teammates YUAN and ZHAO.
Gold and Silver to China
China gained two medals at today’s 25m Pistol Women at the 2009 ISSF World Cup stage in all events in Munich, Germany. The Asian country keeps on surprising the shooting experts, presenting young shooters who win world level competitions in spite of their lack of experience.
The 22-year old pistol shooter YUAN Jing, who had shot a fifth place at the first ISSF World Cup sage of the year in Chanwon (KOR), finished today’s match in first winning the first medal of her international career.
The young Chinese shooter overtook with ease the qualification leader, the home shooter Munkhbayar Dorjusuren of Germany, claiming Gold with a total score of 793.0 (588+205.0) points.
"I did not expect such a result - Yuan said - I started shooting in a bad mood this morning, and I did not even think I could make into the final round. Then - she continued - I shot four good series. I did not realize I had moved up in the lead, and I has been quite a surprise to understand that I had finished in first!"
Yuan was followed in second by her 21-year old teammate ZHAO Xu, winner of the second World Cup stage of the 2009 season in Beijing. The young athlete shot the Silver medal climbing form the eighth place on the start list thanks to an impressive final of 207.0 points, for a total score of 789.0 (582+207.0) points.
Bronze to Beijing’s Olympic medallist Dorjsuren
The German shooter Munkhbayar DORJSUREN, 39-year old, did not shoot her best match, today. She had entered the final round in first place with a qualification score of 589.0 points, taking advantage of her home range, but she did not held the leadership further then the first final series.
Her slight one-point head start did not place her in a safe position, and she slid down in second and then in third place by scoring two disappointing final series.
Dorjsuren eventually landed in third place and grabbed Bronze with a total score of 788.4 (589+199.4) points
Spain’s Sonia FRANQUET, 28-year old, finished in fourth place with a total score of 786.6 (583+203.6) points, shooting her best world cup placement ever in this shooting event. Her best placement, so far, had been a sixth place at the 2005 ISSF World Cup stage in Fort Benning, USA.
The third Chinese finalist, WU Jan, 30-year old, Gold medallist of the 2009 ISSF World Cup in Changwon, finished in fifth place with 785.9 (584+201.9) points. She was followed by the 1988 Olympic Champion and 2008 Olympic medallist Nino SALUKVADZE of Georgia, who closed the round in sixth place with 785.6 (582+203.6) points.