The Serbian athlete secured her first world cup gold in career beating Spain’s Franquet in Munich, today. Zhang Mengxue of the People’s Republic of China took bronze.
The 2012 European Champion, Bobana Velickovic of Serbia finished in the spotlights at the ISSF World Cup in Munich, today. The 26-year old shooter secured the Gold medal with 199.7 points, recording her best world cup finish in career, in spite of closing the final with a spine-chilling 8.6 shot.
Before the last shot, Velickovic had an cushion advantage of 1.8 points on her closest follower, the European Games Silver medallist Sonia Franquet of Spain, 35, which saved her leadership.
Franquet, who fired a 9.8 as her last shot, finished in second pocketing Silver with a total score of 199.1 points. She would have needed a 10.5 or more to win the match.
Velickovic had never won a world cup stage gold medal, before.
“This is my best world cup finish in career. I am really happy about my competition, except that last shot… I don’t know what happened there.” She said after the final.
“The whole season has been quite positive for me. I will keep on training and competing internationally on the road to Rio.”
“The Games are the focus of the season,” continued Velickovic, who placed 22nd at London 2012, “everybody is working on that event, and the pressure will be high.”
Zhang Mengxue of the People’s Republic of China, 25, took today’s Bronze with 179.4 points.
Two-time Olympic Gold medallist Guo Wenjun of the People’s Republic of China, did not shoot at her best, today. The reigning Olympic Champion was eliminated after the tenth shot, with a score of 94.3 points, placing in seventh. Guo, currently ranked second in the world, had won the first world cup match of the season in Bangkok, and then made the final match at the pre-Olympic test event in Rio de Janeiro, where she also placed in seventh, with 97.4 points.
Another London 2012 protagonist, the Olympic silver medallist Celine Goberville of France, 29, shot today’s final finishing in sixth place with 118.1 points. She followed Yu Ai Wen, 20, of the Chinese Taipei (fifth with 138.0 points), and the 2015 European Games Bronze medallist, Belarus’ Viktoria Chaika (35) fourth with 158.3 points.
Thailand’s Tanyaporn Prucksakorn, 26, was the first to leave the competition, taking the 8th place with a score of 75.2 points.
The ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Munich will be closed today by the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Position Final, scheduled this afternoon at 13:30. Follow the match live on www.issf-sports.org