“It was my turn to win!” - The French shooter and the Italian World Champion fought neck and neck throughout the final round, finishing tied after the tenth shot. A shoot-off was needed to decide the winner of the match.
France’s Pierre Edmond Piasecki won today’s 10m Air Rifle Men final, the opening match of the 2011 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Fort Benning, GA, USA.
The 25-year old French shooter finished on the highest step of the podium with a total tally of 700.8 points, after shooting off the world’s # 1 Niccolò Campriani of Italy 10.1 to 10.0 points.
Piasecki had made it to the final round in fourth place, with a qualification score of 597 points. Zeroing in, he climbed up the scoreboard to the first place by scoring 103.8 points in the 10-shot final, tying the qualification leader Campriani.
“He had beaten me by 0.1 points at the last World Cup, in Sydney…” Piasecki said right after the match “This was my turn to finish on the highest step of the podium.”
“It has been a great match, and I am satisfied with my shooting – Piasecki continued - Campriani is a good friend of mine and I regard him as one of the best shooters of the world. It has not been easy…” Concluded the Franch shooter, now ranked seventh in the world.
“We both deserved the Gold in Sydney, and we both deserved it here.” Italy’s 23-year old medallist Campriani commented, after scoring a 10.0 in the shoot-off, finishing in second place by 0.1 points.
Campriani, who had qualified in first place for the final match with a qualifications score of 599 points, scored 101.8 points throughout the final, ending up with the Silver with a total score of 700.8 points + 10.0 in the shoot-off.
“I started winning World Cup Gold medals here in Fort Benning, one year ago. It’s great to be back here.” The Italian shooter said.
The Bronze medal went to the 2004 Olympic Champion, China’s Zhu Qinan, third with a total score of 700.4 points. The Chinese shooter had made it to the final match with a qualification score of 597 points, climbing then the scoreboard by marking 103.4 points in the final.
The three Olympic Quota Places – the passes to London 2012 – to be awarded today went to The Nederland’s Peter Hellenbrand, 25, who closed the match in fourth with 699.7 (597+102.7) points, to Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania, fifth with 698.9 (598+100.9) points, and to Russia’s Sergey Kamenskiy, eighth with a final score of 695.9 (596+99.9) points.
Check the results of the match at http://www.issf-sports.org/xmlresultpage.aspx?cshipid=1179&resultkey=C10000_I_1605110830.1.AR60.0