China rockets atop of the medal standings of the ISSF World Cup in Gabala (AZE) after 11 out 15 events
Chinese shooters won two more medals at the ISSF Wolrd Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan, lifting their team atop of the intermediate medal standings. Kim Chongyong of the Republic of Korea claimed the men’s 10m Air Pistol gold, his second medal in three days, and an Olympic quota for his country.
The sixth competition day of the 2015 ISSF Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun World Cup in Gabala saw the Chinese team rocketing atop of the intermediate medal standings thanks to the gold and silver medals won by Chen and Yi at the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final, and the success of the up-and-coming Korean athlete Kim Chongyong, the 18-year old winner of the men’s 10m Air Pistol medal match.
China earns two more golds and USA’s 2008 Olympic Champ Eller comes back atop of the podium at the ISSF World Cup in Gabala
Chen Dongqi (26), a two-time world cup bronze medallist, secured the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions gold medal at the end of a great final. The Chinese athlete finished the kneeling series in the lead with 152.9 points, and continued shooting solidly through the prone series, keeping the lead with 308.4 points. Holding on the first place through the standing series, she won the match with 456.2 points, and 0.8 points of advantage on her teammate Yi Siling (26). Yi, the 2012 air rifle Olympic champion, took silver with 455.4 points, pocketing her second world cup medal of the season in this event, after the bronze she had collected in Munich, earlier this year.
24-year old Anna Zhukova of the Russian Federation followed the two Chinese athletes, claiming bronze with 444.8 points. The two Rio 2016 Olympic quotas up for grabs at today’s final went to Poland’s Sylwia Bogacka (33), sixth with 411.6 points, and to Switzerland’s Jasmin Mischler (23), seventh with 400.0 points.
“I was feeling nervous during the competition, but I tried to calm down by telling myself that I could make it. And luckily it went that way.” Chen said, wearing the gold medal. “I am very happy now, even if I was a bit stressed during the match, I felt really great in the days leading to this world cup stage. Today’s result proves that we have been working in the right direction to prepare the competition.” Chen added.
Claiming his second medal in just three days, the Republic of Korea’s Kim Cheongyong (18) won gold at the following men’s 10m Air Pistol final . The medal also gained him an Olympic quota place for his country. Last Tuesday, Kim had also won the 50m Pistol bronze.
The young Korea shooter closed on 199.0 points, overcoming Kazakhstan’s Vladimir Issachenko, the silver medalist, just before the final shot. In the second part of the final, Issachenko (32) had mostly been in the lead. On the second-last shot, though, he hit a 7.8. that let Kim take over Issachenko, and the first spot.
China rockets atop of the medal standings of the ISSF World Cup in Gabala
Issachenko eventually came in 2nd, just 1.6 points behind Kim, with 197.4 points. Slovakia’s Juraj Tuzinsky, who had been leading the final in its early stages, finally took the bronze (178.9 points), his first world cup medal.
Next to Kim’s Korea, the other quota-winning country was Kazakhstan as Issachenko and Rashid Yunusmetov (5th with 138.6 points) secured two tickets to Rio2016 for their country.
“I feel very good,” siad gold medalist Kim. “I was very focused on the competition and I am happy that I secured a Rio 2016 quota to my country. Now I want to go home, and relax.”
Now that 11 out of 15 events has been conducted here in Gabala, the People’s Republic of China is currently atop of the intermediate medal standings with 5 golds, 3 silvers and 1 bronze, followed by USA with 2 golds and 2 silvers, and by the Republic of Korea, with 1 gold, 2 silvers and 1 bronze.
The event is due to continue tomorrow with three more medal matches in the schedule. The competition day will kick-off with the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final at 13.15, and will continue with the women’s 10m Air Pistol and the women’s Trap finals at 15.00 and 18.15 (GMT+5), respectively. Finals will be broadcasted live on http://www.issf-sports.org
The host nation of the Republic of South Korea has dominated the medal podium during the first week of the equestrian events at the Asian Games 2014 at Incheon with all gold in Dressage and Eventing.
The host city lies west of the South Korean capital of Seoul, and the 17th Asian Games, which is the the biggest sporting event in the world, began on 19 September and continues through to October 4. Almost 13,00 athletes compete in 36 sports over the 16 action-packed days representing 45 Olympic Council of Asia member states, and 10 countries fielded Dressage competitors while riders from seven nations lined out in Eventing.
Dressage
It was the fifth consecutive win for South Korea in last Saturday’s Dressage Team competition in which Japan took silver ahead of Chinese Taipei in bronze medal spot. The team from Indonesia finished a very close fourth while China, India and Thailand filled the remaining places on the leaderboard in that order.
Youngshik Hwang steered Fursteuberg to the highest score of the competition when posting 74.342 per cent. And when that was backed up by a healthy 71.237 from Dongsson Kim riding Finally, 69.658 from Yooyson Chung with Royal Red and 68.816 from Kyunsub Kim with Dark Secret then the Republic of Korea posted an average final score of 71.746 to claim the gold when the top three scores were taken into account.
Shingo Hayashi produced the highest Japanese score of 71.395 with Veranus while team-mates Kazuki Sado (Winnetou DDH), Tomoko Nakamura (Pacific B) and Mayumi Okunishi (Freestyle) posted 69.184, 68.947 and 68.895 respectively for an average team total of 69.842.
Chinese Taipei’s final tally of 67.386 was achieved by Ko Wen Wang (Daquino), Yu Chieh Chang (Nora), Li Yu Kuo (Temptation) and Hsiu Hua Yeh (Urban Legend) for the bronze, but the Indonesian score of 67.316 for fourth place was all the more creditable for the fact that there were only three competitors in this side, and therefore no drop score. The team consisted of Ferry Wahyu Hadiyanto (Douceur), Alfaro Menayang (Diamond Boy) and Larasati Iris Rischka Gading (Wallenstein).
Freestyle
The Dressage test for the team competition was Prix St Georges, but it was Intermediate Freestyle that decided the the individual medals which were awarded at the Dream Park equestrian venue three days later. And this time South Korea’s Hwang had to settle for silver medal spot as team-mate Kim reigned supreme.
Kim, who is 25 years old, was awarded the best artistic marks by all five Ground Jury members for a score of 77.225 with his 13-year-old Hannoverian chestnut, Finally.
Hwang, a double-gold medallist at the previous Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in 2010, scored 76.575 to take the silver with his 11-year-old Westphalian, Fursteuberg, while Indonesia’s Larasati Iris Rischka Gading took her second bronze medal of the week with Wallenstein when posting 74.075. Hong Kong’s Jacqueline Wing Ying Siu finished just off the podium in fourth on a score of 72.87 with Ferrera.
On the podium for individual Eventing at the Asian Games 2014 at Incheon in South Korea today: (L to R) China’s Alex Hua Tian (silver), Republic of Korea’s Sangwuk Song (gold) and Republic of Korea’s Sire Bang (bronze). (FEI/www.horsemovethailand.com)
Eventing
In Eventing, the South Korean team proved untouchable from the outset helped in no small way by the leading dressage score of 37.90 from the anchor partnership of Sangwuk Song and FRH Fantasia who went on to also claim the individual title.
It was Wonjae Hong who provided the drop score in the Dressage phase when posting 49.40 with Calloa Vanhet Kloosterhofz, but on cross-country day Jaisik Cheon and Pilot Cutter added 20 penalties to their scoreline so the 0.40 for time collected by Hong was the only thing added to the host country’s tally going into the final afternoon following great clears from both Song and Sire Bang riding Thomas O’Mally.
The Japanese team of Tae Sato (Toy Boy), Takanori Kusonoki (Fairbanks Cargo), Ryuzo Kitajima (Just Chocolate) and Toshiyuki Tanaka (Marquide Plescop) established themselves in silver medal spot in Dressage and held on firmly, but the three-member team from Hong Kong made a big jump up from fifth after Dressage to take the bronze in today’s final Jumping phase.
China held third place after Dressage, but when pathfinders Junhong Lu and Watch were eliminated in yesterday’s cross-country phase then the 70.80 recorded by second-line rider Jingmin Li with Zhendeyl had to be added to the results for team-mates Ruji Liang (Vasthi) and Alex Hua Tian (Temujin) which dropped them one place to fourth. The Hong Kong threesome meanwhile proved a formidable force when Nicole Fardel was the only one to increase her scorelline, picking up 0.40 cross-country time penalties, while both Thomas Heffernan Ho (Zibor) and Yuan Yan Annie Ho (Baxo) kept a clean sheet. And even though Heffernan Ho and Fardel each faulted once today, Hong Kong still finished almost 20 points ahead of the fourth-placed Chinese side.
The Japanese were strong throughout, adding only two time faults in the cross-country phase and completing with three clear Jumping rounds today when Wonjae Hong was the only one to leave a pole on the floor.
Individual champion
Sangwuk Song was the clear individual champion when adding nothing at all to his excellent Dressage mark with his 14-year-old dark bay German-bred mare. The 41-year-old rider is something of an all-rounder, having competed in Jumping at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar in 2006 where he was on the silver-medal-winning team, and in Eventing at the last Games in Guangzhou four years ago.
Individual silver went to China’s Alex Hua Tian who, at the age of 24, has already made quite a name for himself in this sport. He received the FEI’s Rising Star Award in 2010 when he was also an ambassador for the Asian Games in Guangzhou. Two years earlier he was the first Chinese rider to compete at an Olympic equestrian event when lining out in Hong Kong for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. He was just 18 years old at the time, and he put his name into the record books as the youngest athlete to compete in three-day eventing in Olympic history. Tian finished 49th individually at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy, France last month.
Korea’s Sire Bang finished a very close third to take bronze at Incheon today. The 26-year-old from the Let’s Run Equestrian Club in Korea is trained by Matthias Baumann in Germany, and taking a medal at these Asian Games has been a long-term ambition. She succeeded admirably with the help of her talented 16-year-old Irish-bred horse Thomas O’Mally when they added nothing to their Dressage score. Hua Tian almost frittered away his advantage when collecting three time faults, and he only pipped Bang for the silver by 0.20 penalty points.
Results:
Dressage Team Competition: Gold – Republic of Korea 71.746: Dark Secret (Kyunsub Kim) 68.816, Royal Red (Yooyson Chung) 69.658, Finally (Dongsson Kim) 71.237, fursteuberg (Youngshik Hwang) 74.342; Silver – Japan 69.842: Freestyle (Mayumi Okunishi) 68.895, Winnetou DDH (Kazuki Sado) 69.184, Pacific B (Tomoko Nakamura) 68.947, Veranus (Shingo Hayashi) 71.395; Bronze – Chinese Taipei 67.386: Daquino (Ko Wen Wang) 56.763, Nora (Yu Chieh Chang) 67.553, Temptation (Li Yu Kuo) 67.395, Urban Legend (Hsiu Hua Yeh) 67.211.
Dressage Individual Competition: Gold – Finally (Dongsson Kim) KOR 77.225; Silver – Fursteuberg (Youngshik Hwang) KOR 76.575; Bronze – Wallenstein (Larasati Iris Rischka Gadin) INA 74.075.
Eventing Team Competition: Gold – Republic of Korea 133.00: Pilot Cutter (Jaisik Cheon) 63.10, Calloa Vanhet Loosterhofz (Wonjae Hong) 53.80, Thomas O’Mally (Siro Bang) 41.30, FRH Fantasia (Sangwuk Song) 37.90; Silver – Japan 142.50: Toy Boy (Tae Sato) 56.30, Fairbanks Cargo (Takanori Kusonoki) 52.10, Just Chocolate (Ryuzo Kitajima) 48.00, Marquis de Plescop (Toshiyuki Tanaka) 44.40; Bronze – Hong Kong 153.80: Zibor (Thomas Heffernan Ho) 55.70, The Navigator (Nicole Fardel) 54.60, Baxo (Yuan Yan Annie Ho) 43.50.
Eventing Individual Competition: Gold – FRH Fantasia (Sangwuk Song) KOR 37.90; Silver – Temujin (Alex Hua Tian) CHN 41.10; Bronze – Thomas O’Mally (Sire Bang) KOR 41.30.
14 days of competitions, 53 events conducted, 64 Olympic quota places assigned, 306 medals awarded: these are the numbers of the 51st ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events that came to an end in Granada, Spain, today.
The 51st ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events has been officially closed at the CEAR Juan Carlos I shooting range of Las Gabias, Granada, Spain, this evening.
Over 2000 athletes from 94 countries – for a total of almost 4000 starts – competed in 15 Olympic Shooting events and 39 non-Olympic events there from the 6th through the 19th of September.
The ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events takes place every four years (last: Munich, Germany, 2010; next: Changwon, Republic of Korea, 2018), and it’s the major competition organized by the International Shooting Sport Federation.
Sixty-four Olympic Quota places were distributed by the ISSF to the best finalists during the event, opening the qualification path leading to Rio 2016.
The People’s Republic of China finished atop of the overall medal standings, with an impressive tally of 44 medals (19 Gold, 16 Silver, 9 Bronze including also Junior and Team events). Germany followed in second place with 25 medals (15 Gold, 6 Silver, 4 Bronze) while the Russian Federation took the third place with 9 Gold, 13 Silver and 18 Bronze, for a total of 40 medals.
Ten new world records were established and 3 world records were equalled in senior events. Junior athletes also gave their best, setting 13 new world records and 6 new final world records.
During today’s Closing Ceremony, the Royal Spanish Shooting Federation returned the ISSF flag to the ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña, who then handed it to the representatives of the Korea Shooting Federation and of the city of Changwon, where the 52nd ISSF World Championship will be held in 2018.
The ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña said: “This ISSF World Championship in Granada has been a great sport event: we’ve witnessed excellent competitions, and extraordinary results scored by our athletes.”
“The new finals introduced after the 2012 Olympic Games brought drama and emotion into our sport. The atmosphere during the competitions, here in Granada, has been great.”
For the first time in the history of the International Shooting Sport Federation, junior finals were staged during this championship. And this is just the beginning, according to the ISSF President: “Junior finals are a step forward for our sport, and a great opportunity for the young athletes. I will propose to establish a new separate Junior World Championships, a competition completely dedicated to the youth.” Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña concluded.
“This Championship has been a festival for our sport.” The ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said. “We are looking forward to the 52nd ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events that will be held in Changwon in four years.
The Wolrd Championship is over, but the ISSF Shooting Sport season continues: the best shooters of the world are now heading to Gabala, Azerbaijan, where the 2014 ISSF World Cup Final in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events will be held from the 21st through the 28th of October. There, Granada’s medallists will meet the world cup title defenders and the top performers of this year’s world cup series, aiming at the 2014 ISSF World Cup Title.
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