-17 to the Games. Jin Jong Oh chases the 10m Air Pistol Men Gold

Current 10m Air Pistol Men Olympic Champion, China’s Pang Wei was unable to reach his best performance during the last Olympic cycle. The 26-year old shooter – who married to 10m Air Rifle Olympic Champ Du Li after the 2008 Games - finished on a couple of podiums in this event, and scored some good results in the 50m Pistol Men event. But he lost several spots in the world ranking, and in the ISSF NEWS Magazine’s “Super 25 Chart” he ended up in 15^th place.

A number of talented shooters challenged him during the last four years, and his place at the top of the international rankings was taken by Korea’s 50m Pistol Olympic Champion Jin Jong Oh, who is competing in both events. Jin scored the highest qualification of the last cycle, with a personal best of 594 points, and one of the best finals, 103.4 points. In addition, he confirmed to be in great shape at the last ISSF World Cup Stage of the year, held in Munich at the end of May, when he won both the pistol men events.

His young team-mate Lee Daemyung, 24 years old, also finished under the spotlights by winning the Gold medal at the pre-Olympic ISSF World Cup on the lines of the RAB Final Hall in London last April. The two team-mates are currently going through a heavy preparation period to peak for the Games, where they will probably meet two other Asian champions, ready to challenge them. Japan’s Matsuda Tomoyuki, the current World Champion, is one of the top-ranked shooters in this event. Although he is focusing on the 50m Pistol competition, he might earn a medal on the 10-meter distance as well, as he did four times during the last Olympic cycle.

China’s Tang Zongliang will also be part of the match. Returning to international shooting in 2011 after being absent for a couple of years, he climbed up the international ranking to the first place, becoming one of the favorites to win a medal in London. But European shooters will not just sit and watch others collecting medals. Russia’s Leonid Ekimov is third in our “Super25 Chart”, after winning 3 ISSF events out of 8 participations in the last four years. Full of motivation, and with the right skills, Ekimov could make it. The 25-year old shooter has already acquired valuable Olympic experience in Beijing, at the age of 21, when he made it to the final match and eventually finishing in fifth. His team-mate Vladimir Isakov, a 42-year old shooter who won Bronze in this event at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, is also ready to challenge the Asian experts, along with Serbian team-mates Mikec and Zlatic, two expert pistol shooters who we will introduce in the 50m Pistol Olympic preview in the next days. They are all so close, that the fight for the podium promises to be breath-taking.

10m Air Pistol Men

Date of the Final in London: Saturday, 28.07.2012 at 15:30

Reigning Olympic Medallists

Current World Ranking Leaders

Current World Record Holder

Current Olympic Record Holder

ISSF NEWS Magazine Super 25 Chart