Dominik Hermle of Germany and Giovanni Pezzi of Italy pocketed the gold medal in the men’s and junior men’s event at the first stage of the ISSF World Tour Target Sprint — the German Open — which is currently underway in Suhl (GER).
Giovanni Pezzi pocketed the brightest medal in the junior men’s event, crossing the finish line in 1st place and completing the three-lap race in 4:38.2 minutes, 16.6 seconds better than the silver medal winner — Germany’s Felix Elsner — and 19.6 better than Great Britain’s Morton Jos Van Der Schee, who took bronze.
Initially, it was Hungary’s Mark Rescsik who crossed the finish line in 3rd position, was he was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct.
After placing 4th at last year’s ISSF Target Sprint World Championship, Germany’s Dominik Hermle climbed atop the German open podium, pocketing his country’s third medal out of four events.
“I didn’t start very well today,” said Hermle, who closed the race with the time of 4:36.4 minutes. “My first lap wasn’t good at all. But then I started running better, and I’ve been a bit lucky in the last shooting session, when my opponent missed a couple of targets.”
Two Italian athletes completed the podium in 2nd and 3rd position: Davide Riccio took silver, finishing 7.1 seconds behind Hermle and besting his teammate Georg Unterpertinger by just 1.5 seconds.
The German Open of the ISSF World Tour Target Sprint will conclude tomorrow with the mixed relay. The final is scheduled at 1:55 pm (UTC+2:00).
For a complete sum-up of the Target Sprint rules click here.
Live results, news and updates about all ISSF competitions will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all ISSF social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.