The reigning Olympic Champ finished on the highest step of the podium with more than 9 points of advantage on his followers, coming back atop of an ISSF 50m Pistol podium after missing for two years.
The 2008 Olympic Champion Jin Jong Oh of Korea won today’s 50m Pistol Men final, the closing match of the 2011 ISSF Rifle & Pistol World Cup in Fort Benning, GA, USA.
The 31-year old shooter, an Olympic multi-medallist who had been elected “Shooter of the Year” in 2008, came back atop of an ISSF podium, today, after missing since the 2009 ISSF World Cup Final in Wuxi.
Entering the final round with a qualification score of 573 points, Jin started off with a safe advantage of 7 points on his followers. Managing the pressure of the final match, and dealing with the wind blowing from the right-front side of the range, the Korean shooter scored today’s highest final, 97.0 points, securing the Gold with an overall score of 670.0 points.
He was followed in second place by China’s Wu Xiao, who finished on the podium with an overall score of 660.3 (566+94.3) points, more than 9 points behind him. The 28-year old shooter, who had just competed once in the frame of the ISSF World Cup Series, also secured an Olympic Quota Place for his country.
Five points behind him, Serbia’s Andrija Zlatic placed in third with a total score of 655.3 (562+93.3) points. The 33-year old athlete, ranked eighth in the world, had already finished in the spotlights during the last ISSF World Cup Stage, in Changwon, where he had won an Air Pistol Gold medal.
The second Olympic Quota Place awarded by the ISSF at today’s final went to Slovakia, thanks to Pavol Kopp, 32, who climbed up the scoreboard finishing in fourth place with 653.6 (562+91.6) points. He was followed by the second Serbian finalist, Damir Mikec, who closed the match in fifth only 0.3 behind, with a total of 653.3 points.
The 50m Pistol Final closed the 2011 ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Fort Benning, USA. The ISSF World Cup Series moves now to Munich, the home of the 2010 World Championship, where the next world cup stage will be held starting from the 16th of June.