The 1988 Olympic Champion Nino Salukvadze won the 25m Pistol Women event, shooting Gold with a total of 789.5 points (589+200.5). The Georgian shooter qualified for the final round with a safe head-start of five points over her followers, and managed her advantage throughout the four final series finishing in first with a two-point advantage. Coming back to the highest step of a World Cup Final podium, she finished in the spotlights by outdoing the 2008 Olympic Champion and the World Cup Final title defender with ease.
Salukvadze, Bronze medallist at the last Olympic Games in the 10m Air Pistol Women event, was probably one of the most successful pistol shooter among today’s World Cup finalists. Competing both in the 10m Air Pistol and in the 25m Pistol Women events, the 40-year old shooter has been claiming eighth World Cup Final Gold medals since 1989. She had claimed her last World Cup Final title in the 25m Pistol Women event in 1993.
Behind her, the battle for Silver kept the spectators’ breath. Following Salukvadze, Beijing Olympic Champion Chen Ying (CHN) and the title defender Munkhbayar Dorjsuren (GER) duelled right to the last final series for the second step of the podium.
Chen Ying, 31, currently ranked second in the World Ranking, started in fourth place after scoring 584 points through the qualifications. She rapidly climbed tying Dorjsuren, who had qualified in third with 586 points. The two athletes shot almost tied throughout the last two final series, divided just by few tenths of a point. Chen eventually moved in second, winning Silver with 787.8 points (584+203.8), with six tenths of advantage on Dorjsuren, Bronze medallist with 787.2 points (586+201.2).
The second Chinese finalist, Wu Yan, who
had qualified for the final in second with 586 points, ended up in fourth place
behind Spain’s Sonia Franquet after shooting today’s worst final (197.1 points,
for a total of 783.1 points). Her teammate Yuan Jing followed her in sixth,
with a total score of 781.6, preceding Kazakhstan Yuliya Bondareva and Belarus’
Viktoria Chaika.