The Chinese shooter Wang Tao secured the Gold with 0.2 of advantage on the Youth Olympic Games Silver medallist Illia Chareika of Belarus, and on the Italian reigning World Chmapion Niccolò “Nicco” Campriani, who shot-off for Silver, two times.
The 10m Air Rifle Men Final opened the 2012 ISSF World Cup in Munich, Germany, the last World Cup Stage of the year.
The competition, held at the 1972 Olympic Shooting Range of Munich, welcomed more than 650 shooters coming from 85 countries to compete in the 10 Olympic events of Rifle and Pistol shooting, when only two months are left to the Opening Ceremony of the XXX Olympic Games in London.
It was a Chinese shooter, Wang Tao, 29, who won the 10m Air Rifle Men Gold medal, the very first award of the event. The athlete from Beijing, ranked 12 in the world in this event, made it to the final with a qualification score of 597 points . The, shooting 103.4 points in the final, he climbed up from the second place to the first, ending up in the lead to win Gold with an overall score of 702.4 points.
Wang had never won a Gold medal, in an ISSF event, before. Last year, he had made it to the final match in three different World Cup Stages, winning a Silver (here in Munich) and two Bronze medals in Changwon and Sydney.
Today’s fight for the Silver medal lasted right to the last shot, and further on, with the reigning World Champion Campriani of Italy and the Youth Olympic Games Silver medallist Illia Charheika of Belarus fighting neck and neck.
Niccolò Campriani, coming from two podiums gained at the previous World Cup Stage in Milan last week, made it to the final in third with 598 points, and scored 104.2 points throughout the 10-shot final to finish with 702.2 points. At the same time, the 19-year old Belarusian finalist Charheika climbed up from the seventh place by shooting today’s highest score in the final, 105.2 points, closing the match with 702.2 points as well. The two were tied, and a shoot-off – a sudden death tie-breaker – was needed to assign the medal.
In the following shoot-off for Silver, Chareika shot first, scoring a great 10.8 shot. Campriani, reacting with determination, looked at the scores, went back in position and fired a 10.8 as well turning the crowd of spectators on fire.
The tie-breaker continued with a second shoot-off, and then it was the young Charheika to secure the Silver medal, outscoring Campriani (who pocketed the Bronze) 10.3 to 10.1 points.
The 19-year old Belarusian shooter had already stepped on an ISSF 10m Air Rifle podium, earlier this year, winning a Bronze at the ISSF pre-Olympic World Cup Stage in London, where he had placed in third, writing his name in the list of Olympics favourites.
Another young shooter, Ukraine’s 19-year old Serhiy Kulish – who had finished in third behind Charheika at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games - closed in fourth today with 701.3 (597+104.3) points. Following him, the 2004 Olympic Champion and 2008 Olympic Silver medallist Zhu Qinan closed the match in fifth with 700.1 (597+103.1) points.
The qualifications’ leader, Russia’s Serguei Kruglov, scored 101.1 points in the final, sliding down in the placement and landing in sixth place with 700.1 points. Behind him, Norway’s Are Hansen totalized 699.4 points, while the second-time finalist Alexander Schmirl of Austria closed the match in eighth and last place with 698.6 points.