China’s Wang Tao, 30, won today’s 10m Air Rifle Men event, the opening match of the 2012 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon, Korea – the first ISSF World Cup Stage in the 10 Olympic rifle and pistol events of the year.
The new 2013 ISSF Rules that reshape shooting finals have been applied here at the 2013 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon, Korea, for the first time, since their introduction in January.
How does the new 10m Air Rifle final works?
After the qualifications (which are conducted as before the rules changes), the best 8 shooters advance to the Final. Their scores are then set back to zero. Qualifications scores are indeed not carried forward into the medal match, as it was happening before the 2013 ISSF rules changes.
The Final match starts off with two series of three shots. Then, the final proceed with single shots. Starting from the eighth shot, and then after every two shots, the athlete with the lowest score is eliminated, until the medals are decided. The Final match ends up with two shooters on the line, duelling for the Gold on the last two shots.
Wang Tao secured the first Gold of the season
China's Wang Tao turned into the protagonist of this first final match. The 30-year old athlete, ranked third in the world, climbed up the rankings starting from the third place after the qualifications. Wang soon reached the top of the scoreboard, gaining tenths over his followers after every shot. A slow but consistent gain, that lifted him atop of the medal standings with a total score of 206.8 points.
Today’s was not Wang’s first time atop of an ISSF World Cup podium: the Chinese shooter had won Gold at the 2012 ISSF World Cup Stage in Munich also. At the last 2012 Olympic Games, the 30-year old shooter had placed in fourth, just 0.7 points far from the podium.
Silver to Richter (ISR), Peter Sidi in third.
Today’s qualifications leader Peter Sidi of Hungary passed through the first final phase with ease. But then, at the first single shot, he scored a disappointing 8.5-shot, endangering his leadership. Sidi slowly slid down in the placements, fighting neck and neck against Israel's Sergey Richter, 23.
2013 European Champion Richter eventually secured the Silver medal, with an overall score of 205.6 points, while the Hungarian shooter placed in third, securing the Bronze medal with a total score of 182.2 points.
Mongolia's first time finalist Bayaraa Nyantan, 21, placed fourth, with 162.0 points, leaving the match at the 16th shots.
“Shooter of the Year” Campriani in 8th place
Italy's Niccolò Campriani, the 2012 London Olympics Silver medalist, who was awarded the “2012 Shooter of the Year” trophy yesterday, placed in eighth today. The Italian shooter was the first to leave the match. Campriani had qualified for the final in second place, and scored a total of 79,4 points out of eight shots, before being eliminated.
Switzerland's Pascal Loretan, 24, left the match after the 10th final shot, with 98.8 points, placing in seventh. In spite of an excellent last shot of 10.4 points, Serbia'42-year old Nemanja Mirosavljev was eliminated at the 12th shot, with 121.5 points, placing in sixth. Two shots later, it was Germany's European Junior Champion Michael Janker to leave the match, taking the fifth place with 142.0 points.
The ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon, Korea, continues today with the 50m Pistol Men Final.
Follow the match at www.issf-sports.org