Olympic Bronze medallist Reitz, 22-year old, secured gold on the lines of the 1972 Olympic Range of Munich. The German shooter won the applauses of the spectators, climbing from the fourth place to the lead with a 201.3 points final.
The home champion Reitz climbed Munich’s podium
The crowded final hall of Munich cheered for the 22-year old home shooter Christian REITZ, who won today’s Gold climbing from the fourth place thanks to a fantastic final match. Beijing’s Olympic Bronze medallist scored 201.3 points with four consistent series, overtaking the other finalists with an irresistible total score of 785.3 points.
“Munich welcomed me fantastically! I had never won a world cup Gold medal here in Munich. I have been shooting here a few times, junior competitions, European championships, but it is not the same thing.” Christian Reitz said, “I am looking forward to the 2010 World Championships. My goal is to make into the final… but I don’t want to speak about medals now. We will see in one year.”
Reitz had won a Silver medallist at last year’s ISSF world cup final held here in Munich. The German athlete, in spite of his young age, has already won a considerable amount of titles. Next to the Olympic Bronze, Reitz collected a World Championships junior title in 2006, two World Cup Golds in 2008 and a Silver medal at the 2008 ISSF World Cup Final in Munich.
Czech’s Strnad lost gold in his fourth series
Martin STRNAD of Czech Republic won the Silver medal, getting his first international medal ever. Strnad had started today’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol match in the lead with today’s highest qualification score (586 points). Facing Bulgaria’s Chaushev in the first relay, Strnad suffered in the last part of the match, shooting a frustrating fourth competition series of 44.8 points. His total score of 780.2 turned out to be 5.1 points lower then the total score of Reitz.
Bronze to USA’s Sanderson
Facing Reitz in the second relay of the final, USA’s Keith SANDERSON, 34, scored 195.0 points in the final round, totalizing 780.0 points and winning Bronze.
The American shooter has never being winning as much as in the last two months. Sanderson opened the 2009 ISSF World Cup season by shooting a silver medal at the first ISSF world cup stage of the year in Changwon, Korea, and a gold at the following world cup in Beijing, China. “I did not really change anything. It’s a matter of time and training… I am just getting better!”
Chaushev received a 2-point penalty.
Sabin CHAUSHEV of Bulgaria had started in second place with a qualification score of 585 points, but since he came in late for the final match, a 2-point penalty deduction was applied to him. The Bulgarian shooter summed a disappointing fourth series of 44.5 points to the penalization, closing the match in sixth and last place with a total score of 767.8 points
Shooting in the first final-relay, Beijing’s Olympic finalist Roman BONDARUK of Ukraine, 34, placed in fourth. The Ukrainian shooter scored 194.0 points in the first relay, overtaking his Chinese opponent Zhang, finishing with a total score of 777.0 points.
China’s ZHANG Jian placed in fifth place with an overall score of 775.7 points. He had shot his first international match at the world cup stage in Changwon, Korea, where he secured a Bronze, and then he participated in the world cup stage in Beijing, where he did not qualify for the final match.