Sonja Pfeilschifter of Germany won the 10m Air Rifle Women title at the 2012 ISSF World Cup Final, held in Bangkok, Thailand.
The world record holder confirmed to be the best in the world once again, just three months after the Olympic Games in London, where she was not allowed to compete in this event by the team management.
In London, Pfeilschifter only competed in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women event
– eventually placing in 19th – and complained about the decision of
not admitting her in the Air Rifle team. A decision that came after four
Olympic editions (1992, 2000, 2004 and 2008), four chances Pfeilschifter lost
to secure an Olympic medal.
Starting today’s final with the highest qualification score, an almost-record of 399 points, the German athlete passed through the final with ease.
Scoring 104.2 points – one of today’s highest score in the final – Pfeilschifter marked an overall score of 503.2 points, securing her fifth ISSF World Cup Final trophy since 1999.
And only Pfeilschifter could stop the series Yi Siling’s golden results. The 23-year old Chinese shooter had won the 2010 ISSF World Championship, the 2010 Asian Games, the 2011 ISSF World Cup Final in Wroclaw, the 2012 Asian Championship and then triumphed at the Games.
Today, the Chinese champion followed Pfeilschifter in second, with 500.7 points. After making it to the final in third, with 398 qualification points, she climbed up by shooting 102.7 points in the final.
The second Chinese finalist, the 2012 Olympic Bronze medallist Yu Dan, 25, placed in third, with 500.3 (397+103.3) points, winning today’s Bronze.
Austria’s Lisa Ungerank, the 20-year old Austrian shooter who had qualified in second with 399 points, placed in fourth with a score of 500.1 (399+101.1) points. At the same time, the second German finalist, Jessica Mager, ended up in fifth place with 499.5 (397+102.5) points.
Today’s highest score in the final was marked by Serbia’s Andrea Arsovic, the Silver medallist of this year’s ISSF World Cup Stage in Munich. The 25-year old shooter scored 104.9 points in the final, climbing up from the eighth place to the sixth, where she eventually landed with 498.9 points. Following her, Dariya Sharipova of Ukraine scored 498.5 (396+102.5) points, while the two-time Olympic Champio Du Li of China placed in eighth, with 496.8 (394+102.8) points.