ISSF

Published on 24 Oct 2012

50m Pistol event: China's Zhang steals the show, and clinches World Cup Final Gold

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Marco Dalla Dea

The Chinese shooter climbed up to win the Gold, beating Japan's Matsuda by almost 4 points on the lines of Bangkok's shooting range, where the 2012 ISSF RIfle & Pistol World Cup Final is held from the 22nd throught the 28th of October.

China’s Zhang Tian, 32, won the 50m Pistol Men event competition at the 2012 ISSF World Cup Final held in Bangkok, Thailand, today.

 

The 32-year old shooter finished in the first with an overall score of 664.9 points, winning his first ISSF World Cup Final.

 

Zhang arrived here in Thailand to compete in the final after winning a Bronze medal at this year’s pre-Olympic ISSF World Cup in London. Shooting on the lines of the Bangkok’s shooting range, he passed through the qualification with 565 points, finishing in second place on the start list of the final match.

Shooting solidly, the Chinese finalist overtook the qualification’s leader Matsuda by marking 99.9 points in the final, and clinched the Gold medal with 664.9 points and more than 3 points of advantage on his followers.

The World Cup star Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan, coming from the recent Olympic disappointment (he placed in 12th in London, in spite of being the favourite), closed his unlucky season in second.

 

The 36-year old shooter had already shot here in Bangkok. Four years ago, in 2008, he had won the ISSF World Cup title assigned here. This time, the expert shooter qualified for the final round in the lead, with 566 points, but then did not give his best. Scoring five times in the 9th ring, and twice in the 8th, he slid down in the placements, eventually landing in second place with an overall score of 661.0 points.

 

Today’s Bronze medal went to Russia’s 25-year old sharpshooter Leonid Ekimov, who placed in third with an overall score of 659.1 points. After qualifying with 562 points, he scored 97.1 points during the final, securing his second World Cup Final medal following last year’s Silver.

 

London Olympics’ protagonist Andrija Zlatic of Serbia, 34, placed in fourth with 656.5 points, shooting 97.5 points in the final after qualifying for the match with 559 points. He was followed by his teammate Damir Mikec, 28, who closed the round in fifth with an overall score of 651.9 points, after qualifying with 554 points and then shooting 97.9 points during the ten-shot final.