Germany’s Link Seals Home Victory On The Last Competition Day Of The ISSF World Cup In Munich

The sixth ISSF World Cup Stage of the season was held in Munich, Germany, from the 27th of May through the 1st of June.

The season’s sixth ISSF World Cup stage just closed in Munich, Germany, where a record-breaking number of 901 participating athletes coming from 87 countries competed in the 10 Olympic Rifle and Pistol events from the 27th of May through the 1st of June.

Gaining three gold medals, the People’s Republic of China came atop the competition’s medal standings – Zhu Qinan, Zhang Jingjing, and Yi Siling were the athletes who contributed to their country’s success

Germany took the competition’s last gold medal, as Andre Link won today’s Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final against Yang Haoran of China. Link (458.7 points) held on to first place and closed with a 1.7-point lead on Yang, 19, who set a Final Junior World Record (457.0 points). The 20-year-old Link also won an Olympic quota, and so did Alexis Raynaud of France.

Gold medalist Andre LINK of Germany competes in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men Finals at the Olympic Shooting Range Munich/Hochbrueck during Day 5 of the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol on June 1, 2015 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by ISSF Photographers)

Earlier today, Antoaneta Boneva of Belarus won the Women’s 10m Air Pistol as she beat Serbia’s Bobana Velickovic with a 2.4-point lead. Boneva (200.6 points) had won a gold medal just two weeks ago at the Fort Benning World Cup. USA’s Lydia Paterson, Serbia’s Bobana Velickovic, and China’s Guo Wenjun took Olympic quota places for this event.

The competition had started last Thursday, May 28th, when China’s Zhu Qinan, a two-time Olympic Medalist, won the Men’s 10m Air Rifle gold, the season’s second World Cup medal for Zhu, who had won bronze last April in Changwon, Korea. The Chinese athlete (206.0 points) closed on a mere 0.3 points ahead of Russia’s Vladimir Maslennikov, the silver medallist. As Zhu already had one, Olympic quotas went to Ukraine, India, and Serbia, thanks, respectively, to Oleh Tsarkov (whose 184.2 points earned him a bronze medal), Abhinav Bindra (6th, 122.4 points), and Stevan Pletikosic (7th, 99.1 points).

Later on the same day, another Chinese athlete won the women’s event. China’s Yi Siling (209.8 points), a London 2012 Olympic Gold medallist, came in first in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle final with a 2.5 point lead on Croatia’s Valentina Gustin. Chen Dongqi, Yi’s teammate, came in third. Silver medallist Gustin also gained one of the three Olympic quotas for this event; the rest went to Austria’s Olivia Hofmann (5th, 143.7 points), and Germany’s Nina Laura Kreutzer (6th, 121.3 points).

Gaining the first of two gold medals in the competition – after eight years without winning one – Joao Costa came atop the Men’s 50m Pistol podium on the 29th of May. Costa (194.7 points) beat China’s Zhang Bowen, the silver medalist, and won the first World Cup gold after he had last got one in Munich in 2007. Two days later, Costa went on to win the Men’s 10m Air Pistol too. Tomoyuki Matsuda, the bronze medallist, came away with an Olympic quota for Japan. Italy’s Giuseppe Giordano (5th, 129.9 points) also gained a ticket to Rio.

Gold medalist Jingjing ZHANG of the Peoples Republic of China competes in the 25m Pistol Women Finals at the Olympic Shooting Range Munich/Hochbrueck during Day 2 of the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol on May 29, 2015 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by ISSF Photographers)

The same day, China’s Zhang Jingjing, the reigning World Champion, gave her country the third gold in two competition days as she won the Women’s 25m Pistol. Zhang made the final with a score of 19, and eventually beat Tanyaporn Prucksakorn in the gold medal match (7 to 1 hits). Prucksakorn of Thailand, and bronze medalist Yuliya Alipova of Russia won Olympic quotas for their countries.

On the 30th of May, the World Cup Stage continued with Michael Mcphail of the USA winning his second consecutive gold of the season at the Men’s 50m Rifle Prone. Mcphail (209.1 points) beat France’s Cyrll Graff and came in first, after he had already won the same event at the previous World Cup stage in Fort Benning. Vitali Bubnovich of Belarus took bronze. Silver medalist Graff and Stefan Raser (4th, 166.6 points) won Olympic quotas for France and Austria.

Day-3 also saw Christian Reitz of host country Germany winning the Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol as he beat USA’s Keith Sanderson. Reitz (32 hits) close in first with a 6-hit lead on Sanderson, the silver medalist, and 10 hits more than Russia’s Alexei Klimov, who came in third.
Sanderson and Klimov took the event’s two Olympic quotas.

Germany gained another gold in the next event, yesterday, May 31st, as Barbara Engleder easily won the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions. Engleder (461.5 points) held a 6.5-point lead on runner up Yoo Seo Young of Korea. China’s Yi Siling won her competition’s second medal as came in third.Yoo of the Republic of Korea, and Ukraine’s Natallia Kalnysh gained Olympic quotas for their countries.

Portugal’s Joao Costa came back atop of the ISSF podium the same day, as he took over the Men’s 10m Air Pistol. Costa (201.4 points) beat Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsuda, the silver medallist, after he had claimed the gold in the men’s 50m Pistol just two days earlier. China’s Sun Yang, the bronze medallist, also gained an Olympic quota for his country. So did India’s Gurpreet Singh (4th, 154.8 points), and Lee Daemyung of the Republic of Korea (5th, 136.0 points).

(L-R) Pavla SCHORNA, Judith WAGNER and Kerstin SCHMIDT in the ISSF Target Sprint at the Olympic Shooting Range Munich/Hochbrueck during Day 4 of the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol on May 31, 2015 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by ISSF Photographers)

During Day-4 of the ISSF World Cup in Munich, the ISSF Target Sprint – an event that combines shooting and running – was conducted. Germany’s Judith Wagner won the Women’s event for the third year in a row. Wagner crossed the finish line in 0:05:49,3. Pavla Schorna of the Czech Republic, the silver medalist, closed on 0:06:00,1. Bronze medalist Kerstin Schmidt of Germany completed the event in 0:06:13,9. Another German athlete, Michael Herr, won the Men’s event. Herr beat Marian Valek of the Czech Republic as he closed on closed on 0:05:13,7 – the day’s best time. Silver medallist Valek followed Herr on a time of 0:05:21,3. Germany’s Tino Hopfe took the bronze (0:05:27,4).

The ISSF World Cup Series will now move on to Gabala, Azerbaijan, after a two-month stop. The next ISSF World Cup Stage – in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events – will indeed take place there from between the 6th and the 16th of August.

6th ISSF World Cup Stage Of The Season Kicks-Off In Munich

ISSF – INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING SPORT FEDERATION

The 2015 ISSF World Cup Series lands in Munich, Germany, where a record-breaking number of 901 participating athletes coming from 87 countries will compete in the 10 Olympic Rifle and Pistol events from the 27th of May through the 1st of June.

105 medals and 78 Olympic quota places have already been assigned at the first five ISSF World Cup Stages of the season, held in Acapulco (MEX), Al Ain (UAE), Changwon (KOR), Larnaca (CYP) and Fort Benning (USA). Thirty more medals, and 24 Rio 2016 Olympic qualification spots, will be distributed here in Munich, the capital of Rifle and Pistol shooting.

The competitions will be held at the well-known 1972 Olympic Shooting Range of Munich, which hosted a some 25 ISSF World Cup Stages since 1986. The venue will also be the location of this year’s ISSF World Cup Final in Rifle and Pistol events, which will take place in a few months, from September 1st to September 7th.
The first medals of the Stage will be assigned tomorrow, Thursday 28th of May, at the end of the 10m Air Rifle Men and Women finals scheduled to take place at 13.30 and 17.00 (GMT+2), respectively.

ISSF World Cup Shotgun 2015 – Acapulco, MEX – Finals Trap Women
ACAPULCO – MARCH 2: 4th placed Kayle BROWNING of the United States of America competes in the Trap Women Finals at the at the Club “Caza, Tiro y Pesca de Acapulco, A.C.” Shooting Range during Day 1 of the ISSF World Cup Shotgun on March 2, 2015 in Acapulco, Mexico. (Photo by Nicolo Zangirolami)

At the 10m Air Rifle Men event, once again everyone is waiting for Yang Haoran. China’s Youth Olympic champion, who ranks first in the world, will be one of the favourites to win tomorrow’s event. Yang, 19, is still looking for the first World Cup gold of his season, after he won silver in Changwon last April. Russia’s Nazar Louginets, who ranks just behind Yang worlwide, is also listed as one of the athletes who could make it to the podium. Louginets, who will turn 26 next Sunday, could make himself a gift by winning his first World Cup gold this year. Hungary’s Peter Sidi, ranked third in the world, will make a tough opponent for Yang and Louginets. Sidi, 36, has won gold at the first rifle and pistol competition earlier this season–there, he beat China’s Yang and Zhu.

Serbia’s Andrea Arsovic, 28, will try to win yet another gold after her success in Fort Benning two weeks ago. Arsovic, who ranks first in the world, has been missing on the podium’s highest step for two years–her last World Cup gold was in Fort Benning in 2103. Ivana Maksimovic, Arsovic’s teammate and an Olympic Silver Medalist, will raise Serbia’s chances of making a medal. Maksimovic, 25, has won a silver medal earlier in this season in Changwon. India’s 22-year-old Apurvi Chandela, who came in third behind Maksimovic in Changwon, will also run for a spot in the final tomorrow.

All the final matches will be broadcasted live, via internet, through the ISSF Website http://www.issf-sports.org and on the Livestream platform.

Kostelecky Pockets Second World Cup Gold Back To Back At The Closing Event Of The 2015 ISSF Shotgun World Cup In Larnaca

ISSF – INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING SPORT FEDERATION

Czech Republic’s Kostelecky won the last match of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Larnaca, Cyprus, which saw the participation of 490 shooters coming from 77 countries.

Today’s Trap Men final won by the 2008 Olympic Champion David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic closed the 2015 ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The 39-year old shooter climbed atop of the podium after a breathtaking gold medal match, where he met and beat Turkey’s 27-year old Yavuz Ilnam with a score of 13 to 12 hits. The two athletes shot neck and neck right to the last shot, when Ilnam missed his very last target, leaving the brightest medal to Kostelecky.

2008 Olympic Champion Kostelecky had never won a world cup gold before this season. He made it for the first time at the last world cup stage in Al Ain (UAE), and he repeated himself today, at the Olympic shooting range of Larnaca.

“It’s crazy, I had never won a gold in 20 years, and now I got two back to back. Sometimes life is strange.” Said the Czech champion after the final. “You can’t drop many targets these days, if you want to make it into the final. The results of the competitors are so high that there’s not much room for mistakes. Rio 2016 is the goal for every shooter, now. But that’s still far away, 14 months, you never know what it can happen in between. I am trying to stay focused on this year’s competitions.” He added, speaking about his future plans.

Silver medallist Ilnam celebrated with Kostelecky, in spite of losing the medal match. Indeed, not only he won his very first world cup medal, but he also claimed a Rio 2016 Olympic quota for Turkey. Quite an achievement for the 27-year old athlete ranked 88th in the world, and who had never made it into a final round of a world cup event, before.

The Bronze medal match finished in favour of Croatia’s Josip Glasnovic (31), who beat Finland’s first-time finalist Vesa Tornroos with a net score of 15 to 10 target. As the Croatian shooter had already won an Olympic quota at the last world cup in Al Ain (where he claimed Silver), today’s second Rio 2016 qualification spot went to Finland.
The fourth world cup stage of the year kicked off on here in Larnaca on the 26th of April. 490 shooters coming from 77 countries arrived in Cyprus to compete in the five Olympic shotgun events, trying to secure one of the 10 Rio 2016 Olympic quotas up for grabs.

Gold medalist David KOSTELECKY of the Czech Republic competes in the Trap Men Finals at the Larnaca Olympic Shooting Range during Day 8 of the ISSF World Cup Shotgun on May 3, 2015 in Larnaca, Cyprus. (Photo by Nicolo Zangirolami)

The competition started off with the Italian flag waiving upon the highest step of the podium, as Diana Bacosi won her second world cup back to back at the Skeet Women final beating China’s Yu Xiumin in the gold medal match. The Skeet Women’s Bronze went to one of the youngest finalists of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series, USA’s Morgan Craft, 21, who shoot her way to the podium by winning a qualification’s shoot-off with 71+6 hits, and then shuttered 14 targets in the semi-final. At the Bronze medal match, she met and defeat Thailand’s Sutia Jiewchaloemmit with a score of 15 to 13 hits, pocketing her very first ISSF world cup medal. Olympic qualification spots went to China and Thailand, as both Italy and USA have already achieved the maximum number of quotas for this event.

The world cup stage continued the following day, on the 27th of April, with the Skeet Men final which saw the success of Saif Bin Futtais of the United Arab Emirates. Bin Futtais claimed the brightest medal as he beat Sweden’s Marcus Svensson with a shoot-off score of 4 to 3 hits, after the Gold medal match where the two tied with 14 hits each. Both the Gold and Silver medallist qualified for Rio 2016. Anton Astakhov of the Russian Federation, participating in his first ISSF world cup final round, secured the Bronze medal beating Great Britain’s Jeremy Harry Bird by 13 to 12 hits in the Bronze medal match. Cyprus medal hope Georgios Achilleos did not make it to the podium, but he equalled the current Skeet Men world record during the qualification phase of the competition, with a perfect score of 125 hits out of 125 targets.

The 2014 ISSF World Championship silver medallist and world’s #6 Antonino Barillà of Italy claimed the Double Trap Men gold on the 29th of April, at the third final match of this world cup in Larnaca. The Italian athlete beat Guatemala’s first-time world cup finalist Enrique Brol – ranked 30th in the world – with 29 hits in the Gold medal match to Brol’s 27. Brol and Bronze medallist Pan Qiang (30) of the People’s Republic of China clinched the two Olympic quotas, as Barillà had already won one at last year’s world championship.

The Trap Women final, conducted yesterday, 2nd of May, turned in favour of Finland, as the 2008 Olympic Champion Satu Makela-Nummela claimed Gold and clinched a Rio 2016 Olympic quota place for her country, beating Tatiana Barsuk of the Russian Federation with a score of 13 to 12 hits. Spain’s Fatima Galvez pocketed the Bronze, beating the Australian first-time finalist Emma Elizabeth Cox at the end of spine-chilling shoot-off. The two athletes tied with 9 hits at the end of the medal match, and then continued shooting in the tie-breaker. They both missed their first three shoot-off targets, and it was the fourth clay to decide the medal in favour of the Spanish shooter.

After five events, the Italian team finished atop of the medals standings, with two Gold medals. The Czech Republic, Finland and the United Arab Emirates placed in second with one Gold medal each. At the same time, the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation finished in the spotlights by securing two Rio 2016 Olympic quota place each, out of the 10 quotas up for grabs here in Larnaca.

The ISSF World Cup Series moves now on to America, as the fifth world cup leg of the year is going to be held in Fort Benning, USA. There, the best rifle and pistol shooters of the world will meet from the 11th through the 19th of May, competing for 24 Olympic quota spots and to collect qualification points for this year’s ISSF World Cup Final.

Italy’s Bacosi Wins The First Gold Of The ISSF Shotgun World Cup In Larnaca

The Skeet Women event opened the 2015 ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Larnaca. Italy’s Diana Bacosi won her second world cup Gold in a row, leaving China’s Yu in second place.

The third Shotgun stage of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series has been officially opened in Larnaca, Cyprus, yesterday evening. The competition will run from the 26th of April right through the 3rd of May, and will be held at the Larnaca Olympic Shooting Range.

490 athletes coming from 77 countries are participating in the stage, competing in the five Olympic events of Trap, Double Trap and Skeet shotgun shooting.

The best shooters of the world arrived here in Cyprus, as ten Olympic Quota Places – the qualification slots for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro – are up for grabs at the competition.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña said: “Dear shooters, officials and coaches, dear friends: welcome to the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Larnaca. I am very happy to be in this beautiful island. I would like to thank the Organizing Committee for their excellent work in the preparation of this event, we are very happy to hear that athletes from 77 countries and five continents arrived here in Cyprus to participate in the third shotgun stage of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series.”

Gold medalist Diana BACOSI of Italy competes in the Skeet Women Finals at the Larnaca Olympic Shooting Range during Day 1 of the ISSF World Cup Shotgun on April 26, 2015 in Larnaca, Cyprus. (Photo by Nicolo Zangirolami)

Italy’s Diana Bacosi won today’s Skeet Women final, Larnaca’s opening event.

The 31-year old athlete qualified for the final match with 72 hits, and then cleared the semi-final with a perfect score of 16 hits out of 16 targets. Advancing to the Gold medal match, Bacosi met and beat China’s Yu Xiumin with a score of 15 to 13 clays, missing only one target on her last station throughout the whole round.

Bacosi had already stepped atop of the ISSF world cup podium at the second world cup stage of the year in Al Ain (UAE), last March. The Italian athlete, ranked second in the world, had grabbed a Rio 2016 Olympic Quota place there, qualifying for the next Games.

“It feels great to win my second world cup Gold back to back,” said Bacosi. “It gives me a lot of self confidence in the lead up to the European Games and to the ISSF World Championship.”

“This range is beautiful, it’s the perfect place to shoot a world cup,” she continued. “But the wind can be challenging here, it hasn’t been easy to pass through the qualifications. I gave my best in the semi-final, when the wind slowed down, and I finally made it.”

The women’s Skeet Silver medal went to Yu Xiumin of the People’s Republic of China (32), while it was USA’s Morgan Craft (21) who won the Bronze medal beating the 2008 Olympic finalist Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit of Thailand (28) in the Bronze medal match with a score of 15 to 13 hits, pocketing her very first ISSF world cup medal.

(L-R) Silver medalist Xiumin YU of the Peoples Republic of China, Gold medalist Diana BACOSI of Italy and Bronze medalist Morgan CRAFT of the United States of America pose with their medals after the Skeet Women Finals at the Larnaca Olympic Shooting Range during Day 1 of the ISSF World Cup Shotgun on April 26, 2015 in Larnaca, Cyprus. (Photo by Nicolo Zangirolami)

The two Rio 2016 Olympic Quota places up for grabs at today’s final went to Yu and Jiewchaloemmit, as Bacosi had already won one in Al Ain and USA has already achieved the maximum number of qualification spots in this event (2 quotas).

The next medals will be awarded tomorrow afternoon, at the Skeet Men final, scheduled to take place on the 27th of April at 17.30 (Cyprus time, EEST). The match will be broadcasted live on http://www.issf-sports.org