The 20-year old American shooter won her first ISSF World Cup final round. Poland’s Nagay and Serbia’s Maksimovic finished on the podium securing a Quota Place each.
USA’s Sarah Scherer won today’s 10m Air Rifle Women event at the 2011 ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Changwon, Korea.
The 20-year old American shooter, competing in her first ISSF World Cup final round today, secured the brightest medal with an overall score of 501.5 points. After qualifying for the final with the highest score (398 points), she secured the lead by firing 103.5 points throughout the final.
With the Gold medal, Scherer also pocketed an Olympic Quota Place, a pass to the next 2012 Olympic Games.
“It feels great to win a Quota Place for my country. I will have to go through national trials to make the Olympic team, now. “ Sarah said right after the final.
“It has been my first time in a final, and it was a bit intimidating to shoot shoulder and shoulder with these experienced athletes.” She said. “But I have been training hard to get here, so I was quite confident.”
“I will be competing both in Fort Benning and Munich, this season. Trying to make up points for our Olympic selection.” Scherer concluded.
Both the Silver and the Bronze medallists won an Olympic Quota Place.
Poland’s Agnieszka Nagay ended up in second with a total score of 500.5 (398+102.5) points. The 30-year old two-time Olympian outdid Serbia’s Ivana Maksimovic in the race for the Silver medal. The two shooters fought neck and neck throughout the whole final, right up to the last three shots, when Nagay moved up in second with a few tenths of advantage.
Maksimovic landed in third place, securing the Bronze medal with 499.4 (397+102.4) points, and pocketing an Olympic Quota Place for her country. The 20-year old Serbian shooter from Belgrade, currently ranked 37th in the world, had never won an ISSF medal, before.
The home shooter, Korea’s Roh Bp Mi, 22, competing in her first ISSF final, ended up in fourth with 498.2 points. The young shooter, boosted by the home spectators, had squeezed into the final round by winning a qualifications shoot-off with 396+51.3 points. Then, during the final, she fired 102.2 points, turning out to be 1.2 points shy of stepping on the podium.
Check the World Cup Schedule here
Five hundred shooters are competing in Changwon, Korea, in the third leg of the 2011 ISSF Wold Cup Series. The best shooters of the world came here trying to secure one of the 24 Olympic Quota Places to be assigned during this competition.
The next medal match, the 25m Pistol Women event, will take place later on this afternoon, at 3.30 PM (GMT +9). Stay tuned, and don’t miss the match on www.issf-sports.org!
Check the World Cup Schedule here