At 30 years old, Rapid Fire Pistol shooter Christian Reitz has already won 22 ISSF World Cup medals, placing 7th in the overall Pistol ranking led by German legendary shooter Ralf Schumann, who used to compete in the same event.
At the ISSF World Cup Stage 5 in Gabala, Reitz secured the 11th Gold of his career, basically dominating the final from the very start. After nailing a 3-hit series in his first round, indeed, he hit three perfect ones in a row, taking the lead and distancing himself from the other finalists, also equalling the World Record of 35 hits.
The only shooter who tried to keep up with his pace was France’s 26-year-old Clement Bessaguet, who also nailed three perfect series in a row midway through the match, but closed with a disappointing 1 in his last round.
The French shooter closed with 29 hits, earning himself the first World Cup medal of his career.
“Today has been great,” commented Reitz. “Being the first after the qualification gave me even more confidence, and the final was great as well. I’m pretty satisfied with shooting today.”
“I’m just a little bit disappointed I that missed the World Record for just one hit…” concluded Reitz. “Now the preparation for the European Championship starts, that’s the goal now. Then I’ll focus on the World Cup Final to close the season on a high note.”
The third step of the podium was taken by Italy’s 33-year-old Riccardo Mazzetti, current holder of the World Record, who concluded with 25 hits and the Bronze medal around his neck. It’s the third career World Cup medal for Mazzetti, who set the record three years ago in Beijing (CHN).
The Gold medalist of last month’s World Cup stage in Munich, France’s second finalist Jean Quiquampoix (21), placed just outside of the podium positions, nailing 21 hits and placing 4th. He was followed by the current ISSF World Champion, Kim Junhong of the Republic of Korea, who finished in 5th position with 15 hits.
United States’ 42-year-old Keith Sanderson only scored 1-hit in his fourth series, being eliminated in 6h place with 10 total hits.
Medal standings after 5-out-of-10 events
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | CHN | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
2 | SRB | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
3 | GER | 1 | 1 | ||
3 | UKR | 1 | 1 | ||
5 | FRA | 1 | 1 | ||
5 | KOR | 1 | 1 | ||
5 | TUR | 1 | 1 | ||
8 | HUN | 1 | 1 | ||
8 | ITA | 1 | 1 | ||
8 | SGP | 1 | 1 | ||
5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
The ISSF World Cup Stage 5 in Gabala (AZE) will continue tomorrow with three more finals: the 50m Rifle Prone Men scheduled at 10:15 am (UTC+4:00), the 10m Air Pistol Women at 11:45 am, and the 10m Air Pistol Men at 4:15 pm.
The three finals will be streamed live on the ISSF official Facebook page, on issf-sports.org and on its Livestream channel.
News and updates about the competition will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all the social media platforms of the ISSF: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.