The Ukrainian athlete secured the 2012 ISSF World Cup trophy, after winning two Bronze medals at the London Olympics. She won a neck and neck duel against France’s Goberville and Taipei’s Tai.
London 2012 Olympic Bronze medallist Olena Kostevych of Ukraine, 27, won today’s 10m Air Pistol Women event, during the last day of competitions at the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Final held in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 2004 Olympic Champion Kopstevych started off the match with the highest qualification score, 388 points, tied to the London 2012 Silver medallist Celine Goberville of France, 26.
The two contenders duelled neck and neck right to the last two shots, when Goberville scored two frustrating shots of 8.9 and 9.0 points, sliding back in third place and leaving the Gold to Kostevych. The Ukrainian athlete marked a total score of 486.4 points to win the brightest medal, after firing 98.4 points during the final match.
Kostevych, who came here to defend the title she had won last year in Wroclaw, had pocketed two ISSF World Cup medals, this year, at the ISSF World Cup Stages in Milan and London.
While Goberville landed in third place, clinching the Bronze medal with 484.5 (388+96.5) points, the Silver medal went to Chinese Taipei’s Tia Chia Chen, 28.
Taipei’s shooter made it to the final in third place with a qualification score of 386 points, and then climbed up in second by shooting 99.1 points in the final, to secure her first ever World Cup Final medal with an overall score of 485.1 points. Tia had won this year’s pre-Olympic ISSF World Cup Stage in London, but she was then disappointed by the turnout of the Olympics, where she eventually placed in 27th.
The home shooter, Thailan’s Tanyaporn Pruksakorn, did not make it to the podium, today. The 22-year old finalist ended up in fourth place, with an overall score of 481.2 (383+98.2) points. The young and promising shooter had place in 11th at the Olympics, last August, and is currently ranked 10th in the world.
Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic, 25, currently ranked seventh in the world, placed in fifth with an overall score of 480.9 (384+96.9) points. She was followed by Bulgaria’s two-time Olympic Champion Maria Grozdeva, who placed in sixth with 480.0 (382+98.0) points. Australia’s Lalita Yauhleuskaya finished today’s final in seventh with 478.2 (381+97.2) points, while Spain’s Sonia Franquet placed in eighth and last place with 475.1 (376+99.1) points.