Another thrilling finale marked the first final match of the second competition day in Suhl, where the ISSF Junior World Championship Rifle/Pistol is taking place.
With a 10.1 on her 45th and final shot, in fact, People’s Republic of China’s Zhu Yingjie prevailed over her friend and teammate Peng Xinyi (20), pocketing the Gold medal and the Junior World Championship title with the final score of 455.3 points. Her only previous achievement was an Asian Championship Gold in women’s 10m Air Rifle, won in Tehran (IRI) in 2016.
Peng, instead, closed the match with a disappointing 9.7, totalling 455.1 points and pocketing the Silver. It’s her second medal in a few weeks after the women’s 10m Air Rifle Gold she claimed at the ISSF World Cup in Gabala (AZE).
The third Chinese shooter to climb on the podium was 20-year-old debutant Gao Ying, who was standing in 8th place at the end of the kneeling position and in 7th after the prone one. Indeed, with a fantastic performance in the final section, where she also scored a perfect 10.9, Gao secured the Bronze medal in her first international appearance.
After leading the table both at the end of the kneeling and prone position, first-time participant Morgan Phillips (19) of the United States of America slid outside of the medal position with a bad first series in the standing phase, where she nailed a disappointing 46.0.
Despite battling to climb back into the podium, however, the 19-year-old from Salisbury, MD (USA) concluded in 4th place with 435.0 points.
She was followed by the current number 85 in the World Ranking, Israel’s 17-year-old Tal Engler, who placed 5th with 423.7 points, while Ukraine’s Anna Ilina (20), who placed 16th at last year’s Junior World Cup in Suhl, concluded in 6th position with 412.3.
The two shooters eliminated after the 40th shot were Russian Federation’s 20-year-old Anastasiia Galashina and Ukraine’s 16-year-old Vladyslava Koval, who respectively placed 7th and 8th, both scoring 402.1 points.
Live results of the competitions, news and updates will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all ISSF social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.