ISSF - 50m rifle 3 position W – Galkina claimed gold

The 2004 Olympic Champion of Athens Lioubov GALKINA of Russia won today’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions women competition at the 2nd leg of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series in rifle and pistol events.

The 36-year old Russian shooter placed in first since the qualifications, and shot gold with a total score of 679.9 points (578+101.9) after managing a consistent head-start throughout the 10 final shots. GALKINA, one of the most expert rifle shooter of the actual shooting scene, had struggled at the last Games held on these lines last August. She had placed in fourth after a tough match eventually won by China’s DU Li.

The host country, China, secured silver and bronze thanks to XIONG Meili and WAN XIangyan.

XIONG Meili, 22, placed in second winning silver with 675.8 points (577+98.8), an exceptional result considering that she had never competed in a world-level event before.

XIONG’s team-mate, 22-year old WAN Xiangyan, shot Bronze, her second international medal following the silver she claimed at the last ISSF World Cup Stage held in Changwon last week. WAN shot a qualification score of 568 points, entering the medal match in seventh place. Then she scored the best final, climbing to the podium with 102.7 points.

WAN won her race for the podium defeating on the last shot the Japanese finalist Yuka NAKAMURA, 21-year old, competing in her first final today. She fired a last shot of 9.8 points, which could not stand to WAN’s 10.8, finishing in fourth with a score of 669.7 points.

Germany’s Claudia KECK, 23, debuted in the final hall, today. Qualified with 570 points, she fired a final of 99.6 points, placing in fifth with a total of 669.6 points. She preceded the France athlete Soleig BIBARD, 29, sixth with 668.0 pts (569+99.0) and the Finnish shooter Hanna ETULA, 28, seventh with 666.7 pts (569+97.7).

Israel’s Chen TAL, who had never entered a world cup final round before, placed in eight with 661.3 pts (568+93.3).