Xie Jieqiong secured Gold, followed by the 2008 Olympic Champ Katerina Emmons and her teammate Adela Sykorova of Czech Republic, who both gained and Olympic Quota Place. Korea’s Gu equalled the world record, but finished in 7th and lost the Quota.
Once again, the 1972 Olympic Shooting Range of Munich turned out to be a perfect stage for outstanding performances in 10m Air Rifle events.
The world record of 400 points was equalled, and 398 qualification points were not enough to access the final, today, when a shoot-off turned out to be necessary to draw the final start-list of the 10m Air Rifle Women final at the 2011 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Munich.
China’s Xie Jieqiong, 22, won the brightest medal with a total score of 503.5 points after a tight final. The young Chinese shooter entered the medal match in third place, tied to the local champion Sonja Pfeilschifter with 399 qualification points. Starting off with a great 10.9-point first shot, the young Chinese shooter stepped up in first place, overtaking Sura Gu of Korea, who had equalled the world record of 400 points during the qualifications.
Xie, ranked 29th in the world, only competed three times within the frame of the ISSF Word Cup Series, before, finishing two times on the podium in 2009. By scoring 104.5 points during today’s final, she beat Czech Republic’s Katerina Emmons and Adela Sykorova, winning her first ISSF Gold ever.
Olympic Quotas: Czech Republic and Denmark celebrate
The two Czech teammates finished on the podium in second and third place, both securing an Olympic Quota Place to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The reigning Olympic Champion Katerina Emmons, 27, came back to an ISSF World Cup podium, today. After making it to the final in seventh place with 398 points, she climbed up the scoreboard ending up in second place with 501.8 points.
Her 24-year old teammate Adela Sykorova closed the match in third place behind her, ending up on the podium with 501.0 points and securing the second Olympic Quota for Czech Republic in this event.
The third Olympic Quota Place assigned by the ISSF today was won by a first time finalist form Denmark, Anette Jensen, 24. After scoring 398 points in the qualification rounds, and passing through a shoot-off, she ended up in fourth place with 500.9 points. 0.1 points far from the podium, but enough to qualify for the 2012 Games.
Three German Shooters in the final
Three German shooters made it to the final round, today: Sonja Pfeilschifter, Beate Gauss and Jessica Mager tried to conquest a spot on the podium, on the lines of their home range.
The local hero, Bavaria’s Sonja Pfeilschifter, started the final round in second place, one point behind the qualification’s surprise: Korea’s Gu, who had equalled the world record to start in first with 400 points. Then, marking 101.2 points during the final, the left-handed German shooter landed in sixth place with a total score of 500.2 points, far from the medals. Quite a delusion, for her. Pfeilschifter, 40, had won her firth ISSF World Cup Gold medal right here in Munich, in 1991. And on these lines, she had also won her last one, the 2010 World Cup Final gold, just a few months ago.
Her teammate Beate Gauss, 26, started the match from the fifth position on the start list, after squeezing into the match through a shoot-off with 398 points. She eventually finished in fifth, with 500.3 points, after scoring 102.3 points during the final round.
At the same time, the third German finalist, Jessica Mager, 23 – a two time European Junior champion in 2007 and 2008 – closed the match in eight place with 499.7 points.
Korea’s Gu shot a world record, but ended 7th with no Quota
A 23-year old Korean shooter, Sura Gu, turned out to be the unlucky finalist, today. The young Korean shooter stole the show during the qualifications’ by making it into the final round with an exceptional score of 400 points, an equalled world record.
But then, starting off the final with a 9.8-point shot, she dropped down in the scoreboard, eventually finishing in seventh place with a total score of 499.8 points, missing the Olympic Quota Place she was competing for.
Gu, ranked 52 in the world ranking, had only made it once into an ISSF World Cup final round, in Sydney last year, where she finished in eight and last place.