The Chinese Pistol team finished in the spotlight once again, at the ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Fort Benning, USA, where more then 400 shooters met to compete in the ten Olympic events of Rifle and Pistol shooting from the 22nd through the 31st of May
Ding Feng won today’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol men competition, ending up on the highest step of the podium with a total score of 786.5 points. The 23-year old Chinese shooter, coming from Bronze at the World Cup held in Beijing a few weeks ago, won here his second consecutive ISSF medal leading the match from the first to the last series. After qualifying with 589 points, he shot 197.5 points during the final, managing his head start on his followers to close with the Gold.
Ding’s teammate Li Yuehong, 20, who ha won the first two World Cup stages of the season in Sydney and Beijing, made it into today’s medal match with 583 points, ending up in fifth with a total score of 779.0 points
“We have no secrets, it’s just hard work and a bit of luck!” said the Gold medallist Ding right after the last final series “I train about four hour each day, following the tables of my coach, it’s hard work but it pays off”
The Chinese shooter, twice on the podium this year, looks forward to the next matches of the 2010 season “Of course the World Championship is an important competition, but I am focusing on each and every match with the same intensity – he said - I will be in Serbia, at the next ISSF World Cup Stage, and then hopefully at the World Championship, trying to grab one of those Olympic Quotas for China”.
Today’s Silver went to Italy’s first time World Cup finalist Riccardo Mazzetti, 26, who finished on the podium passing through an odd defying match. The Italian shooter, ranked 48th in the World, entered the match in second with 583 points, and landed on the podium with a total score of 785.1 points.
“This is my first World Cup medal. I had never been in an ISSF final, before, but I was not so nervous. It’s fun to be here shooting with these great athletes…” said Mazzetti, whose best placement in his career had been third place at the 2009 European Championship.
“I would not say that I was expecting a medal, here – Admitted the Italian athlete, who shot today’s highest score in the final, 202.1 points - We are trying to peak for the World Championship. We started training a little bit later, and I would say I am not at my best. Therefore this medal surprises me. It surprises me in a positive way!”
Bronze went to Beijing’s Olympian Leonid Ekimov of Russia. The 22-year old shooter, ranked nineteenth in the world, ended up in third place with a total score of 782.8 points, climbing up from the fourth place by scoring 200.8 points during the final.