China’s Li Du continues her season of excellence

Du won her first ISSF World Cup in Zagreb, and now three years and six gold medals later, she also owns the title of World Champion in this event. The former World Champion Katerina Kurkova, of the Czech Republic, won the silver medal, while Kazakhstan’s Olga Dovgun took the bronze. It’s a normal performance for our team,” Du said after her event. “We train very hard all year, and when it comes time to compete, we are prepared for it.” Du, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in women’s air, went into the final round in a three-way tie for third with a 398. She came out with a 104.1 final score and the win. Kurkova had a shaky first shot, but regained her composure shortly thereafter for a strong finish and the 501.8 (398 qualifying, 103.8 final) total score. Kurkova had actually intended taking a year or more off from shooting in mid-2005, due to back and shoulder pain and just general malaise. But, since March of this year, has been back on the shooting circuit and regaining focus. “Matt (Emmons) has helped a lot,” Kurkova says of her fiancé. “It really helps to have him here. It gets me through the tough days.” Dovgun was in fifth position going into the final and finished with a 500.9 (398, 102.9) total score to secure her position in third. Dovgun also secured a country quota place for Kazakhstan with her performance. China’s Yinghui Zhao ended up in fourth place overall. Russia’s Marian Bobkova took fifth and secured a quota, while Germany’s Sonja Pfeilschifter was in first going into the finals, but shot two low nine’s early out, to finish in sixth. Her teammate Barbara Lechner clinched seventh and the country quota for Germany, while Avneet Kaur Sidhu, of India, fell to eighth place after the final, but still walked away with a quota. Germany’s Sylvia Aumann and France’s Laurence Brize also placed high enough to win their country a spot.