Published on 12 Sep 2014

LIN (CHN) clears her mind to become Junior World Champion at Women's 10m Air Pistol

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Alessandro Ceschi

20-year-old of China beats Russia's Batsarashkina at Granada World Championship

LIN Yuemei (CHN), 20, took the Junior World Champion title at the Women's 10m Air Pistol event today in Granada. Lin came out on top in a very close duel with silver medallist Vitalina BATSARASHKINA (RUS), 17, as she overcame her at the second-last competition shot, scoring a 10.8 and overturning Batsarashkina's slight 0.1-point margin. That gave Lin a 0.8-point lead, which she extended to 1.6 in her final shot, a 10.3. Anna KORAKAKI (GRE), 18, won bronze.

 

Lin was already in first position after the first round, but Batsarashkina overtook her in the next series. The Russian athlete eventually stayed in the lead for the most part of the match, while Lin kept following her closely. Lin completed her comeback at the sixteenth shot, but her joy was only temporary, as a 9.0 made her slip back to second place immediately afterwards. But just as the Russian Team on the stands was about to celebrate, Lin fired a perfect couple of shots and pulled it off successfully.

 

“I'm still a little bit nervous,” Lin said. “But [I am] also happy to break my own record [and] to get a first place in such a big competition. I'm feeling great.”

 

“I just kept focused on me and not [on] other things. When I pull the trigger there are no other things. The pressure is gone.”

 

Not even the many Russian supporters were enough to make Lin lose her concentration. “It didn't have any effect on me,” she said. “I focused on shooting and everything [else] was just gone. [It was] just myself.”

 

“During the final I had some 9s in a series, but maybe if [I can make] my mind more steady, [my] results will be better. I think I'm still going to need more competitions and training.”

 

The youngest finalist, Lizi KILADZE (GEO), 14, came fourth. Kiladze was fifth at this year's Moscow European Championships.

 

TEAM

Klaudia BRES (POL), 20, was only fifth in the individual contest, but she contributed to her country's victory in the Team standings (which refer to the qualification stage). Poland took gold with 1134 points, and 31 tens (or “x”). Batsarashkina's brilliant performance drove the Russian Federation to second place (1134-26x), whereas bronze went to Lin's People's Republic of China (1132-25x).