Two-days after qualifying for the final match of a World Cup event, Austria’s Sylvia Steiner bested herself and the 4th place she nailed in the women’s 25m Pistol.
In today’s 10m Air Pistol Women, indeed, the 35-year-old Pistol shooter battled for the top positions all along the match, grabbing the lead when there were only two shots left to fire. There, she didn’t let her emotions prevail, hitting a 10.0-10.6 combo that delivered her the Gold medal.
At the end of 8th series, the Austrian overtook Russian Federation’s 20-year-old Vitalina Batsarashkina, currently 3rd in the World Ranking, who took Silver and finished with 236.1 points against Steiner’s 237.5.
“I’m really proud and really happy,” said Steiner after the podium ceremony. “To reach two finals and win my first World Cup medal in such a short span of time proves that hard work always pays off.”
“I would like to dedicate this medal to my parents,” she concluded. “Who supported me for my whole career in shooting. I’m really thankful for that.”
Mexico’s Alejandra Zavala Vazquez, current holder of the ISSF World Cup Final title, completed the podium in 3rd place, claiming her fourth career World Cup medal with the score of 216.7 points.
People’s Republic of China’s Cai Xiaoxue (25) placed just outside of the medal positions despite hitting a 10.7 on her last shot. Making her first appearance in a final match, Cai took 4th place with 196.5 points.
The Chinese shooter was followed by Islamic Republic of Iran’s Golnoush Sebghatollahi (26), who instead left the match after hitting a bad 7.8 on her 18th shot, sliding down three positions and finishing 5th with 175.6 points.
18-year-old Kim Bomi of the Republic of Korea made her international debut in Gabala, entering the final with the eighth best qualification score and concluding in 6th position with 156.0 points.
After shot number 12, the first athlete that had to leave the match was Beata Bartkow Kwiatkowska (35) of Poland, who entered her first final since 2011, placing 8th with 108.0 points. Two shots later she was followed by first-time finalist Olga Axenova (18) of Kazakhstan, who placed 7th with 134.1.
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