The 51st ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events in Granada, Spain, continued today with the 25m Pistol Women event, where five Rio 2016 Olympic Quota places were up for grabs.
The 2013 ISSF World Cup Series winner Zhang Jingjing of the People's Republic of China, 25, pocketed the Gold medal with 7 points, outscoring the reigning Olympic Champion Kim Jangmi, 21, from the Republic of Korea, who closed the match in second with 1 point.
Kim had ended up the semi-final in the lead, with 21 hits and an advantage of 5 hits on her followers. But - following the new ISSF rules – scores are not carried forward to the next competition stage.
Zhang did not miss the chance. The 25-year old athlete, who had won an ISSF World Cup Stage held here in Granada one year ago, shot solidly throughout the whole medal match, leaving no chances to her young opponent.
The Bronze medal went to Hungary's Renata Tobai Sike, 36, who beat Jo Young Suk from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 25, in an outstanding neck and neck duel which lasted for nine series.
The match started off in favor of Sike, who took the lead after the first series. But soon tables turned, as Jo moved ahead of Sike of two points after the third series. From the fifth series on, the two athletes shot tied, right to the ninth series, when Sike prevailed on Jo 5 to 3 hits, winning the medal with a total of 10 points to Jo's 8.
Five Olympic Quota places were up for grabs at today's 25m Pistol Women event, and therefore all the medal match participants secured one Olympic pass.
The fifth Olympic Quota went to France's Stephanie Tirode, 39, an experienced shooter participating in her fifth world championship. Tirode gained the qualification spot with 15 hits in the semifinal, setting aims on her third Olympic participation.
Following her, the winner of this year's ISSF World Cup stage in Maribor, Germany's Monika Karsch, 31, placed in sixth with 14 hits in the semifinal, while Antoaneta Boneva, 28, from Bulgaria, ranked seventh with 11 hits.
It wasn't a lucky day for the local hero Sonja Franquet. The 34-year old Spanish shooter – supported by her home crowd here in Granada - ended up the semi-final in eighth place with a total of 10 hits, missing both the medals and the quota places.
Over 2000 athletes coming from 94 countries are competing in the 51st ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events held in Granada, Spain, from the 7th through the 20th of September.
64 Rio 2016 Olympic Quota places are to be distributed during the event: 21 have already been assigned during the first competition days, while 43 are still up for grabs.
Live footage of the event is available on YouTube and on www.issf-sports.org via Eurovision.