USA’s Emmons Wins The Last ISSF World Cup Final Title In Munich

USA’s Emmons wins the last ISSF World Cup Final title in Munich, earning a spot in the US 2016 Olympic team

The American shooter claimed his sixth world cup title in the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event, qualifying for the US Olympic team. Earlier today, host country Germany celebrated two medals at the women’s event.

The 2015 ISSF World Cup Final in Munich was closed today by the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final, which saw the success of London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Emmons of USA. The 34-year old shooter scored 458.8 points, claiming his sixth world cup final title since 2002, as well as a spot in the Rio 2016 US Olympic team.

On his way to the highest step of the podium, Emmons beat the winner of yesterday’s 10m Air Rifle Men final, China’s 19-year old Yang Haoran, who closed the match in second place with 458.2 points setting a new Final Junior World Record (junior records can be achieved also in senior finals). The title defender and reigning European Champion Sergey Kamenskiy of Russia (27) followed them in third place, with 447.0 points.

“I can’t say it was easy, that’s for sure.” Emmons said right after the final. “Really the biggest thing for me here was to try to qualify for the Olympic team. And that means I needed a medal.”

“Now I made it for the 50m Rifle 3 Position event. I will have to shoot the trials for the 50m Rifle Prone next April. We’ll see.” Emmons explained.

Earlier today, host country Germany celebrated two medals, as Selina Gschwandtner and Barbara Engleder won gold and silver at the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final.

21-year old Gschwandtner took the lead of the match since the kneeling series, finishing ahead of her teammate Barbara Engleder (32) with 459.4 points. Engleder, the 2010 ISSF World Champion, took silver with 455.6 points. The title defender and current world’s #1 Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia (32) followed the two German teammates in third place, securing bronze with 446.5 points.

“It feels great! There are so many spectators here in Munich, the support I have received is fantastic!” Gschwandtner said after the final. “This event is quite challenging, it’s not easy to shoot well in all three positions, during the same match,” she added. “Now, I hope I will be able to shoot at the Olympics in Rio. There will be a selection match in 2016, and I hope I will make it through.”

The ISSF World Cup Final, held at the 1972 Olympic shooting range of Munich form the 2nd through the 6th of September, saw the world’s 85 best rifle and pistol shooters competing in 10 Olympic events, aiming at the ISSF World Cup titles.

USA’s Emmons wins the last ISSF World Cup Final title in Munich,

Some 1179 athletes coming from 103 countries participated in this year’s four ISSF World Cup stages in Changwon (KOR), Fort Benning (USA), Munich (GER) and Gabala (AZE) – adding up to some 4000 starts – to select the world cup final participants.

Once again, it was the People’s Republic of China that finished atop of the overall medal standings of the Final, with 3 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronzes, for a total of 6 medals. USA followed in second place, with two golds, while the Russian Federation placed in third with 1 gold, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes. The host country, Germany, took the fourth place with 1 gold and 1 silver medals.

Five world records were scored during the event. Three of them were set by China’s 19-year old Yang Haoran, who established a new men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions junior world record of 1181 points, a new final junior world record of 458.2 points in the same event, and a new junior world record of 632.7 points at the men’s 10m Air Rifle event. Yang beat himself, as he held all the records he shuttered. Another up-and-coming shooter, Jean Quiquampoix of France, set a new Final Junior World Record of 32 hits at the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol final, breaking his own 31-hit record. Today, Barbara Engleder of Germany equalled the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions world record of 592 points.

The competition was organized in combination with the German Shooting Championship, one of the largest shooting competitions of the world, with a participation of more than 8 thousand athletes over two weeks.

“We are very happy about the success of this year’s ISSF World Cup Final.” The ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said. “The event has been very well organized, and we have been witnessing some excellent shooting competitions. The best athletes of the world have been shooting here in these days.”

“The Final was organized in combination with the German Shooting Championship, which recorded once again a very large participation. The support of the spectators has been great, and this shows us how popular is the sport in this country.”

While Munich’s was the last ISSF competition of the year for rifle and pistol athletes, the season continues for shotgun shooters. Coming up in next, the 2015 ISSF Shotgun World Championship will be conducted in Lonato, Italy, from the 9th through the 18th of September. The first medal match, the women’s trap final, is due on the 11th of September.

ISSF Rifle And Pistol World Cup Final Kicks-Off In Munich. Zhang And Mcphail Claim Titles

The men’s 50m Pistol and 50m Rifle Prone event opened the 2015 ISSF World Cup Final in Munich, Germany, where the best shooters of the world are competing from the 2nd through the 7th of September to secure this year’s ISSF World Cup Titles.

The 2015 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Final kicked-off in Munich, Germany. The best 85 rifle and pistol shooters of the world, selected throughout this year’s four ISSF World Cup Stages in Changwon (KOR), Fort Benning (USA), Munich (GER) and Gabala (AZE), arrived here to challenge the title defenders and the 2014 World Champions, aiming at the 2015 World Cup title.

Russian Trap champion Alipov claims the last gold of the ISSF World Cup in Gabala photo credit: ISSF

The event takes place at the 1972 Olympic shooting range of Munich from the 2nd through the 7th of September, in combination with the German Shooting Championship, one of the largest shooting competitions of the world which sees over 8 thousands athletes from all over the country competing in Olympic and non Olympic shooting events in ten days.

Zhang Bowen of the People’s Republic of China (19) won the first Gold medal of the Final, finishing atop of the men’s 50m Pistol event, today. Zhang, the youngest finalist, shot a consistent match, leaving behind him Olympic and world champions, to win his first world cup final in career.

With 192.6 points, the Chinese athlete beat Vietnam’s Xuan Vinh Hoang (40), who finished in second place with 189.3 points after closing his match with three frustrating shots in the seventh ring (7.8, 7.5, 7.9). Nevertheless, Hoang won the applauses of the spectators. Travelling from Vietnam to Germany, his baggage was delayed and the Vietnamese shooter did not receive his pistol in time for the competition. As extrema ratio solution, the 40-year old athlete shot the match with a new, out-of-the-box pistol, without custom grip and adjustments. A remarkable achievement in today’s shooting sport world, where every single piece of equipment is usually fine-tuned and customized to the last screw.

Hoang also managed to keep behind himself the title defender, the winner of the 2014 ISSF World Cup Final Wang Zhiwei (27) of the People’s Republic of China, who placed in third with 173.6 points after a close duel against his teammate Mai Jiajie (28).

World’s #1 Michael Mcphail of USA (33) claimed Gold at the following 50m Rifle Prone Men final, securing the world cup title with 208.5 points and 1 point of advantage on Russia’s Kirill Grigoryan (23), second with 207.5 points.

The US athlete closed the ISSF season in the best possible way after winning two world cup stages in Munich and Fort Benning, and collected his very first world cup title sealing his leadership atop of the world ranking.

ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Final kicks-off in Munich. Zhang (CHN) and Mcphail (USA) claim the first two titles

“I am very happy with how the season turned out,” Mcphail said. “In the past years I have shot both the 50m Rifle 3 Positions and the 50m Prone Men events, and it takes so much time to train in a proper way. This season I just shot Prone, and it’s much easier.”

“I am going to take a month off now. We have a son who’s due in the end of October, my second one, I am very excited!” Mcphail added, speaking after the award ceremony.

Following Mcphail and Grigoryan, Croatia’s Bojan Durkovic (25) pocketed today’s Bronze medal with 186.5 points, leaving Australia’s 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Warren Potent (53) in fourth place with 165.7 points.

The 2015 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Final in Munich will continue tomorrow with the women’s 25m Pistol and the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol finals, due at 16.45 and 18.00 (GMT+2).

All finals will be broadcasted live on http://www.issf-sports.org

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.

Olegario Vazquez Raña re-elected as ISSF President

ISSF – INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING SPORT FEDERATION

34 years after his first election, the ISSF General Assembly entrusted Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña (MEX) for the ninth consecutive time. Mr. Franz Schreiber (GER) was elected in the position of ISSF Secretary General.

The ISSF General Assembly re-elected President Olegario Vazquez Raña (MEX) for another four-year term, this morning. Mr. Vazquez Raña received 165 votes, beating the sole other candidate Sheik Salman Al Sabah (KUW), who collected 128 votes.

Olegario Vazquez Raña – a four-time Olympian and a rifle shooting record-setter – enters his ninth consecutive Presidential term since his first election in 1980.

“Thank you for your loyalty and for your trust.” Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña said to the Delegates right after his re-election. “You have given me the opportunity to reaffirm my commitment to all sport shooters of the world and to this sport family that I love.”

“You can be certain that for the upcoming four years, changes and developments will continue. We will keep on working on our agenda, to make us stronger, to reach more athletes all around the world, so that our beloved sport will become more attractive to people and more solid in the Olympic movement. I am convinced that with your support the next four years will be really productive, because if we are united the future of our sport will be bright.”

Mr. Franz Schreiber (GER) was elected as the new ISSF Secretary General by unanimous decision of the General Assembly.

“Thank you very much for your support. I am a little speechless. I will do my best to continue working in the way I did, and I will do my best in favor of the shooting sport family.” Mr. Schreiber said.

The 2014 ISSF General Assembly is being held at the Hilton Park Hotel in Munich, Germany, where Delegates coming from 122 Countries, representing 128 Member Federations, for a total of 293 votes, met on the 2nd and 3rd of December to elect all ISSF governing bodies.

Yesterday (2nd of December), the ISSF General Assembly awarded the 2017 ISSF Shotgun World Championship to Moscow (RUS), that beat Gaj-Maribor (SLO) by 204 to 75 votes. The World Championship is to be held at the Fox Lodge shooting range, a top-class ISSF accredited training centre venue.

ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber

During the meetings, the ISSF General Assembly received the reports of the ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña and of the ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber, and unanimously approved the report of the ISSF Auditors. The organizing committees of the 2015 Shotgun World Championship in Lonato (ITA), of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and of the 2018 ISSF World Championship in all events in Changwon (KOR) reported on the progresses of their preparations.

The ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña awarded the ISSF Blue Cross – the highest recognition of our Federation – to two special guests: the IOC Member Vitaly Smirnov of the Russian Federation, and the President of the Spanish Olympic Committee Alejandro Blanco.

The 2014 ISSF General Assembly is currently undergoing, as Delegates are called to elect the four ISSF Vice-Presidents and all the governing bodies of the Federation.

2014 ISSF Media Report Unveiled: 240 million TVs And 1.5 Billion People Reached By Shooting Sport

ISSF Authorities unveiled today some numbers of the 2014 Season Media Report that will be presented at the ISSF General Assembly, to be held in Munich on the 2nd and 3rd of December.

The TV coverage of the 2014 ISSF World Cup Stages, World Cup Finals and World Championship reached 240 million viewers in over 100 countries, in 2014. More than 100 hours of TV footage were produced by ISSF TV and distributed all over the world, including 30 hours of live transmission at the ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events in Granada, distributed in collaboration with Eurovision. Ten TV broadcasters used the ISSF TV feed live, via satellite, while over 60 TV networks recorded our satellites feeds for delayed playback or downloaded the footage from the Eurovision WorldLink.

ISSF – INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING SPORT FEDERATION

Press and on-line news coverage of the 2014 ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events in Granada, Spain, was measured by an independent consulting company, reporting excellent results. Over 600 newspapers from all over the world covered the event, writing more than 3 thousand articles within 10 days, and reaching a potential readership of 1.5 Billion people.

Internet and Social Media have been a key future of the 2014 ISSF communication strategy. More than 200 articles and 2.200 photos were published online on http://www.issf-sports.org, and the Federations’ website recorded 1.6 million visits during the season, 23% more than in 2013.

Videoclips of ISSF World Cups and World Championship were watched 2.8 million times on YouTube, where the International Shooting Sport Federation is offering 1000 videos and interviews recorded on the fields of play. 75.000 Facebook fans interacted with the ISSF throughout the season, and shooting sport content was also offered to thousand of followers on Twitter and Flickr.

2014 ISSF Media Report, credit ISSF

“The media coverage of the 2014 ISSF Season has been fantastic.” The ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said. “There’s a tough competition among sports for TV spaces, and the international sport calendar is really crowded nowadays, but in spite of it we’ve achieved great results.”

“Numbers tell us that we’re on the right path.” Mr. Franz Schreiber continued. “The communication strategy approved by the ISSF President Olegario Vàzquez Raña tuned out to be successful and effective: indeed we are not spending money, we are investing on the future of our sport, and results are paying off.”

FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/15: Surprise Win For Austria’s Pas-De-Deux Dynamo In Munich

Excited fans at the opening qualifier of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/15 in Munich’s iconic Olympic Hall were treated to a double Austrian victory today from Lisa Wild and pas-de-deux dynamo Stefanie Millinger and Evelyn Freund, with Viktor Brüsewitz scoring the home win for Germany.

The Salzburg-based Millinger and Freund, who came sixth at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014, stole the show with a near-perfect African-themed routine, pushing their compatriots Jasmin Lindner and Lukas Wacha – the pas-de-deux world and FEI World Cup™ champions – into second place.

“We can’t believe it. It is our first World Cup victory, and it feels so good”, said Freund, standing with Millinger, both with tears in their eyes.

“We were counting on being in the top three, but this result is just amazing”, added their coaches Marissa Jöbstl and Roswita Haigermoser. And they had even more reason to be happy – another star from their club UVT Salzburg Wals-Schullergut secured the best result in the female individual competition.

Beyond the backflip

Lisa Wild had spectators on the edge of their seats with her backflip off her horse Robin, lunged by Nina Rossin.

She stunned judges and fans when she first revealed a backflip landing back on her horse at the FEI World Vaulting Championships 2012 in Le Mans.

She left the Munich spectators in awe again at her talents, and with her clean performance in the Olympic Hall, she proudly claimed her top spot.

“This is a really great day for me!”, said Wild, who unfortunately did not qualify for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy this summer.

“I’m so happy for her, because she has shown a lot of self-confidence here in Munich after a difficult season”, said her coach Jöbstl. “Now she has proved she is back at the top level of the sport.”

Lisa Wild (AUT) – famous backflip on Robin © Daniel Kaiser/FEI

Savouring the seconds

The recent rule change to extend the one-minute routines for individual vaulters by 20 seconds was welcomed by Viktor Brüsewitz, world number three, who was ectstatic with his first FEI World Cup™ Vaulting qualifier win in Munich.

Vaulting on Adlon with lunger Alexander Hartl (GER), he said: “I will never forget Munich, because this is my very first World Cup victory, and thanks to the rule change I had more time to enjoy it!”

Viktor Brüsewitz (GER) savouring every second in Munich © Daniel Kaiser/FEI

Live in Paris

A total of 18 vaulters, including world champion Joanne Eccles (GBR), will head to the second qualifier of the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/15 at the famous Salon du Cheval de Paris (FRA), where FEI TV (www.feitv.org) live coverage will continue:
28 November – 14.30 (local time) & 29 November – 17.45

FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/15 sees the world’s best 30 vaulters from nine nations battle for points across a four-leg European city tour, before the Final in March 2015. The athletes from Austria, Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Netherlands and Switzerland competing in this challenging series are listed here. The top six female and male vaulters, and top four pas-de-deux, based on their best two results in the series, will come together at the FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2014/15 Final in March 2015, where they will start from scratch.

Munich results:

Male individual: 1. Viktor Brüsewitz (GER), 8,537; 2. Julian Wilfling (GER), 8,346; 3. Jannik Heiland (GER), 8,231
Female individual: 1. Lisa Wild (AUT), 8,641; 2. Simone Jäiser (SUI), 8,372; 3. Kristina Boe (GER), 8,159
Pas-de-deux: 1. Evely Freund/Steffanie Millinger (AUT), 8,714; 2. Jasmin Lindner/Lukas Wacha (AUT), 8,593; 3. Pia Engelberty/Torben Jacobs (GER), 8,588

Daniel Kaiser

2014 ISSF World Cup Series Ends in Gabala, Azerbaijan

ISSF – INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING SPORT FEDERATION

The 2014 ISSF World Cup Final in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events held in Gabala, Azerbaijan, from the 21st to the 28th of October, came to an end today.

154 athletes coming from 39 countries competed there in the 15 Olympic shooting events. Only the bests qualified to participate: the 2013 World Cup Final title defenders and the 2014 ISSF World Championship medallists met the top-8 athletes of each event, selected through this year’s ISSF World Cup Stages held in Fort Benning (USA), Tucson (USA), Almaty (KAZ), Munich (GER), Maribor (SLO) and Beijing (CHN).

The Russian Federation finished atop of the medal standing, pocketing 5 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medals here in Gabala. The People’s Republic of China closed the event in second in spite of collecting an impressive total of 14 medals (3 Gold, 3 Silver, 8 Bronze). Germany followed in third with 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medals.

photo credit, ISSF

Two records were equalled during the competition: USA’s Haley Dunn equalled the current Skeet Women World Record of 74 hits out of 75 targets, while Russia’s Leonid Ekimov equalled the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men Final World Record of 35 points.

“This year’s ISSF World Cup Final has been a great success.” The ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said. “The athletes gave their best at the end of an intense season, and we would like to thank the organizers of this event who set up an excellent shooting range. This new facility in Gabala will host a combined ISSF World Cup Stage next year, and we are looking forward to come back here.”

The ISSF World Cup Final concluded the 2014 international shooting sport season.

The 2015 ISSF World Cup Series will kick-off from Acapulco (MEX) on the 28 of February, next year.