An action-packed day in Suhl (GER) opened with the People’s Republic of China securing their second individual Gold medal at the ISSF Junior World Championship Rifle/Pistol.
Competing in his first ever international competition, indeed, 18-year-old Wang Zhehao literally dominated the men’s 50m Pistol match from the very start, firing an almost-perfect 10.8 with his first shot and building an impressive lead throughout the first half of the final.
The gap between Wang and his closest opponent touched the 5.6-point mark at the end of the fifth series, and despite missing the 10th ring with his last five shots, the Chinese shooter easily remained on top, pocketing the Gold medal and setting a new Junior World Record with 232.6 points.
Despite placing 8th at the end of the first series, the current Junior European Champion in this event, Russian Federation’s Anton Aristarkhov (18), climbed up the table position after position, until he reached and successfully maintained the 2nd place, where he claimed the Silver medal with 229.7 points, 2.9 behind Wang.
On the third step of the podium finished Aristarkhov’s teammate Alexander Petrov (18), who secured the Bronze with 206.2 points, while Croatia’s Ante Kristo (20) placed just outside of the medal positions, taking 4th place with 185.6 points.
A disappointing 6.8 fired in his sixth series forced 19-year-old Morteza Ali Mohammadi of the Islamic Republic of Iran to leave the match in 5th place with 164.6 points, followed by Republic of Korea’s 17-year-old Sung Yunho, also making his first international appearance, who took 6th place with 147.3 points.
In his first international start in this event, Ukraine’s Pavlo Krepostniak (19) left the match after shot number 12, placing 8th with 107.5 points. Two shots later, it was Germany’s Aleksandar Todorov who had to leave the final, taking 7th position with 129.3 points.
Live results of the competitions, news and updates will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all ISSF social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.