The Olympic Champion Jin Johng Oh fired 12 shots during today’s 50m Pistol Men final round. After loosing the duel for Gold against China’s Lin, he had to pass through a shoot-off to secure Silver, but one shot was not enough to grant him the second step of the podium.
It was the last shot that decided today’s 50m Pistol Men final at the ISSF World Cup in Sydney, where the 2008 Olympic Champion of Beijing Jin Jong Oh of Korea and the 2007 World Cup Final winner Lin Zhongzai of China duelled right to the end to secure the highest step of the podium.
China’s Lin, 28-year old, a three-time World Cup Gold medallist, had started the round in the lead with 567 points after the qualifications, with one point of a head start over the Korean champion Jin Jong Oh, who walked into the match with 566 points.
During the ten-shot final, the Olympic Champion Jin shortened up the gap from the top of the scoreboard, taking advantage of a frustrating 7.2 scored by Lin.
After the ninth shot, Lin only had one tenth of a point of margin over Jin left, and the tenth and last final shot turned into a sort of shoot-off for the brightest medal.
Lin shooting first fired an 8.9, which usually would have been not enough to keep up with the Olympic Champion. But this time Jin did not take advantage of his opponent’s defiance, shooting a disappointing 8.1 that landed him in second place.
Lin Zhongzai, looking incredulous at the scores monitor, claimed Gold with a total score of 662.7 points.
Left in second place with a total score of 661.7 points, Jin Jong Oh found himself tied with the American shooter Daryl Szarenski, 42, who had started the match in first place, then sliding down on the scoreboard.
One shot was not enough to break the tie between the two contenders: both Jin and Szarenski scored a 10.0, and a further shot was needed to decide the podium placements. Eventually Jin gave his best, outscoring Szarenski by 10.5 to 9.2 points and securing the Silver medal with a total score of 661.9+10.0+10.5 points. Szarenski took the Bronze medal with 661.9+10.0+9.2 points.
Serbia’s Damir Mikec closed the round in fourth place with 652.3 points, followed by the two Russian teammates Denis Koulakov and Sergey Chervyakovsiy in fifth and sixth place with 648.9 and 648.7 points, respectively. Zhang Tian of China ended up in seventh with 644.1 points, while the first time finalist Lim Swee Hon of Singapore closed in eighth place with 640.0 points.