The third one’s the good one for People’s Republic of China’s Pistol shooter Yang Wei, who nailed his best career placement in the men’s 10m Air Pistol final in Gabala (AZE), after placing 5th and 54th in the two previous World Cup stages.
The Chinese 31-year-old dominated the second half of the match, building a comfortable lead with a strong 10.3-10.3 combo, and maintaining the top of the table until the final shot. He finished with 240.1 points, claiming the first World Cup medal of his career.
Yang’s medal is the third Gold won by the People’s Republic of China in Gabala, along with two Silvers and one Bronze.
Currently ranked 3rd in the world in this event, Matsuda took Silver by scoring 237.9 points, pocketing his 6th career World Cup medal, and the third one in the 2017 ISSF World Cup Series after the Gold claimed in New Delhi (IND) and the Silver won in Munich (GER).
The podium was completed by Ukraine’s 33-year-old Oleh Omelchuk, who claimed Bronze with 217.1 points and won his second medal in Gabala, after the Gold one he secured in the 50m Pistol Men event.
Despite entering the final with the best qualification score, Ukraine’s Viktor Bankin missed the podium once again, after taking 8th place two days ago in the men’s 50m Pistol final. Competing in his first 10m Air Pistol final match, the 26-year-old shooter placed 4th with 195.3 points, while Serbian 32-year-old Dimitrije Grgic took 5th place with 175.7.
Republic of Korea’s So Seungseob failed to best the 4th place he nailed at last month’s World Cup stage in Munich (GER), finishing in 6th position with 155.2 points.
The Korean was followed by Japan’s 35-year-old Kojiro Horimizu, who placed 7th with 134.6 points, and People’s Republic of China’s second finalist, 24-year-old Wu Jianfeng, 8th with 115.2 points.
Medal standings after 8-out-of-10 events
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHN |
3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | SRB |
1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2 | UKR |
1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 4 | AUT |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | DEN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | GER |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | BLR |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | FRA |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | JPN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | KOR |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | RUS |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | TUR |
1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | BEL |
1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | HUN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | ITA |
1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | MEX |
1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | SGP |
1 | 1 | ||
| 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 |
The ISSF World Cup Stage 5 in Gabala will conclude on Tuesday with the last two finals: the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, scheduled at 11:15 am (UTC+4:00), and the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions, scheduled at 3:00 pm.
Both final matches will be streamed live on the ISSF website, on the Federation’s Livestream channel and on its official Facebook page.
Live results of the competitions, news and updates will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all ISSF social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.