50m Pistol Men – China claimed the last Pistol gold medal

SHI Xinglong on the highest step of the podium
The 32-year old Chinese shooter SHI Xinglong claimed Gold at the 50m Pistol Men final, climbing on the highest step of the podium with a total score of 661.6 points. SHI had walked into the final match with the highest qualification score, 571 points, and with a wide 8-point advantage on his followers. During the final round, the Chinese athlete shot a weak average, firing a total of 90.6 points, so that his consistent qualification’s head-start turned out to be indispensable to grab the brightest medal.

SHI, competing in pistol events since 1990, had never won an ISSF Gold medal in this event before. Coming back on the international scene this year, after missing since 2004, SHI Xinglong qualified for the 50m Pistol final rounds at the world cup stage of Changwon and Beijing, where he also secured a Gold and a Bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol even.

Rashid YUNUSMETOV’s best season
Today’s 50m Pistol Men Silver medal went to the Kazakh shooter Rashid YUNUSMETOV, who placed in second with 659.6 points, winning his fourth medal of the season in this event. YUNUSMETOV, who has never won as much as in the last four months, qualified for the final rounds of each 2009’ ISSF World Cup Stage, winning a Gold medal in Beijing, a Bronze in Munich and today’s Silver medal. The 29-year old athlete, who had finished in 16th at the last Olympic Games of Beijing, is climbing the world ranking and candidates himself as one of the favourites for the next ISSF World Cup Final of November.

Bronze to Ukraine’s KUDRIYA
Serhiy KUDRIYA of Ukraine, 26, shot his first ISSF world cup medal today, as he claimed Bronze with 652.4 (558+94.4) points. Following him, the Silver medallist of the world cup stage in Munich, Damir MIKEC of Serbia, placed in fourth with 651.1 (560+91.1) points, while the first time finalist Susumu KOBAYASHI of Japan placed in fifth with 650.9 (559+91.9) points.