Russia’s Sokolov won his second World Cup Final title, stealing the show of the 2010 World Champion Campriani. Sidi third, while the two Indian Narang and Rajput had to shoot-off in fourth place.
Denis Sokolov or the Russian Federation won the 10m Air Rifle Men final at the ISSF World Cup Final in Munich, claiming his second World Cup title five year after his victory at the 2005 ISSF World Cup Final
The 27-year old Russian shooter, a member of the CSKA team, placed in first by shooting 104.5 points throughout the final, after qualifying in the lead with a score of 597 points with a one-point head start on the 2010 World Champion Campriani of Italy.
Thanks to two consecutive 10.8-shot fired on his seventh and eighth competition shots, the Russian athlete archived his victory by putting two points of advantage between himself and his followers, and ended up on the highest step of the podium with a total score of 701.5 points.
Sokolov, a World Record holder ranked fifth in the World, had finished in the spotlights at the beginning of the season, when he secured a Bronze medal at the European Championship held in Meraker. Then, the rifle shooter qualified to compete in this year’s ISSF World Cup Final by winning Beijing’s World Cup Stage and by finishing on the podium of the Belgrade’s Stage, this year.
Campriani’s perfect ninth shot of 10.9 points was not enough to catch up Sokolov. The 2010 World Champion Niccolò Campriani of Italy, world’s top ranked shooter, ended up in second place with a total score of 698.7 points. The Italian shooter, 22-year old, had started the match with a qualification score of 596 hits, and his final score of 102.7 points could not stand Sokolov’s outstanding 104.5-point final.
The Bronze medal went to Hungary’s Peter Sidi, 32-year old. The Hungarian shooter, second at the ISSF World Championship held here last August, turned out to be 100% satisfied about his performance. Qualified with 595 points, he scored 103.3 points throughout the final, finishing in third with a total of 698.3 points.
“I made no mistakes, in this final. We are all tired, at this point of the season, and it’s easy to miss a medal in these conditions” Sidi said.
“I have been preparing myself for the 50m Rifle Three Position event! See you there in two days!” concluded Sidi, wearing the Bronze.
The 10m Air Rifle match was closed by a shoot-off between the two Indian teammates Gagan Narang (27) and Sanjeev Rajput (29). The two Indian shooters fought right to the end to find a spot on the podium, before being overtaken by Sidi, eventually finishing in ending up tied in fourth with a total score of 697.8 points. It was then Narang who secured the fourth place by firing a 10.1 to Rajput 9.7 shot, in spite of a problem with the cheek plate of his stock.