Tien Chia Chen, a 28-year old shooter from Chinese Taipei, won the first pistol match of the 2012 ISSF World Cup in London, the official Olympic test event taking place in the frame of the London Prepares Series.
The first-time winner had made it to the final in the lead with the highest qualfiication score – 388 points – and a one-point head start on her titled followers.
Chen, ranked 33rd in the world in this event, did not hesitate and shot 101.5 points in the final, keeping her opponents behind and climbing upon the podium with a total score of 488.5 points.
“It’s great to win the pre-Olympic World Cup. This shooting range is really great.” She said after the last shot.
“I have been training a lot, with my coach for this event. But if I am here it’s also thanks to my family, I would like to thank them” Chen concluded.
Behind her, the 2004 Olympic Champion, Ukraine’s Olena Kostevich, finished in second, securing the Silver with 487.8 (386+101.8) points. Kostevych, ranked second in the world in this event, had won last year’s ISSF World Cup Final in Wroclaw.
Coming in third, the Olympic Silver medallist of Athens 2004 Lenka Maruskova of Check Republic secured the Bronze medal with an overall score of 487.6 (387+100.6) points.
The 2012 “London Prepares” ISSF World Cup continues tomorrow, with the 10m Air Pistol Men final and the first Shotgun medal match, the Skeet Women final. Follow the competitions on www.issf-sports.org