Published on 19 Apr 2016

Ukraine’s Oleh Omelchuk beats Olympic Champion Jin with last series-overtaking

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Marco Vettoretti

Oleh Omelchuk pocketed his sixth World Cup medal in the 50m Pistol Men event, besting two-time Olympic champion Jin Jongoh of South Korea, who led the match for the first eighteen shots. China’s Wang Zhiwei finished 3rd and collected the Bronze medal.

The 50m Pistol Men final, the first match scheduled for today at the ISSF World Cup stage in Rio de Janeiro (BRA), took an unexpected turn in its last series, as Ukraine’s Oleh Omelchuk overtook Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Gold medallist, South Korea’s Jin Jongoh, after he led the final since the very beginning.

 

Omelchuk, who were 4.2-points behind Jin after the fifth series, narrowed the gap with a solid shooting in the following three, when the Korean shooter fired five of his six shots outside the 10th-ring.

 

The Ukranian shooter then claimed the lead with an almost-perfect 10.7 on his second-to-last shot, eventually sealing the victory with another convincing one, a 9.7 that brought his final score to 191.3 points. Jin, who finished the match with a poor 8.6, recorded a final score of 189.4.

 

“Actually, I expected this match to be easier because I was counting on the experience I gained during the 10m Air Pistol final.” Declared Omelchuk after the medal ceremony. “Anyway, qualifying for finals here at the Olympic range surely gives me good feelings.”

 

London 2012 Olympic Bronze medallist in this event, People’s Republic of China’s Wang Zhiwei, also finished on the podium, securing the Bronze medal with 169.7 points.

 

Also, two of Wang teammates followed him in the final standings, as Mai Jiajie finished 4th with 148.7 points and Pang Wei placed 5th with 130.2. India’s Jitu Rai, Silver medallist at the 2014 ISSF World Championship, concluded 6th with 108.9 points.

 

Unites States’ Jay Shi, participating in the first final phase of his career, concluded 7th with 87.6. His only other placement was a 13th place at last month’s World Cup stage in Bangkok (KOR).

 

South Korea’s Kim Cheongyong, also competing here in his second World Cup event ever, placed 8th with 68.4 points. His previous places was a 3rd place in Gabala (AZE) in 2015.

 

The ISSF World Cup stage in Rio de Janeiro will continue this afternoon with the Double Trap Men final, scheduled at 3:45 PM (UTC-3).

 

News and updates will be available on the ISSF official website and on its social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Weibo. While highlights of all the finals will be available on YouTube and Youku.