Yi Siling of China, 21, scored a poker today in Munich, while competing at the 50th ISSF World Championship in all shooting events, the first Olympic qualifier event for the 2012 Games.
China’s Yi Siling, 21, won four times, today, as she claimed the Gold medal (becoming the new World Champion), she secured an Olympic Quota place (a pass for the next Games), she set a new final world record (505.6 points), and finally beat her teammate Wu Liuxi, who had outscored her several times in the last two seasons.
It was clear that this was going to be a great day for Yi since the morning’s qualifications, as she made it to the final with an equalled world record, a perfect score of 400 out of 400 points. Then, shooting in the lead form the first to the tenth and last shot, she scored 105.6 points more during the final round, totalizing an impressive new world record of 505.6 points.
Her victory turned into a bittersweet entertainment for hundreds of paying spectators who followed the match here in Munich. If they were delighted by Yi’s great performance (she shot an average higher the 10.5 points per shot), on the other side they were disappointed as her new world record beat the previous record of 505.0 points set by the local hero, Munich’s Sonja Pfeilschifter, two years ago at the Milan’s World Cup. Pfeilschifter, who everybody here expected to stand upon today’s podium, did not make it, ending up in 16th place with a frustrating score of 396 points, just one point out of the final match.
“I am surprised that I shot a new world record, this is also my personal best!” said Yi after the award ceremony. “I am really glad that I become the new world champion, and I have to thank all my team for this success!’”
The second Chinese finalist, Wu Liuxi, who had been leading the world ranking throughout the whole 2010 season, finished in second place securing Silver with a total score of 501.4 (398+103.4) points, claiming China’s second Olympic Quota Place in this event.
Two quotas also went to Germany, the host country, thanks to Jessica Mager and Beate Gauss. The two home shooters starting the match in seventh and eighth place with the lower qualification score of 397 points, fought right to the last shot to climb up in fifth and sixth place in order to grab the last two quotas available in this match.
The Bronze and the third Quota Places went to Italy’s Elania Nardelli, a 23-year old shooter coming from Puglia, who finished on the podium with 501.0 (398+103.0) points beating all the odds. The young athlete, who scored today her personal best, had never participated in an international final round before, and at the last World Championship, in 2006, she had placed 84th. “I cannot believe it. This is my best competition ever, it is a dream that comes true, and at the same time a starting point for the future!” Said Nardelli after the final.
Mahlagha Jambozorg, 18-year old, became the first Iranian athlete to qualify for the 2012 Games, by ending up in fourth place with 500.2 (397+103.2) points, enough to grab one of the six Olympic Quotas awarded today.