Beijing’s Olympic Silver medallist JIN set a new World Record this morning, qualifying for the 10m Air Pistol Men final with a record score of 594 points that shattered a previous record of 593 points which had resisted since 20 years (set by Sergei PYZHIANOV at the 1989 World Cup Final).
JIN, who had won gold at yesterday’s 50m pistol competition, entered the final round with the intention of achieving a new final world record (previous: 695.1), a result which would have been possible with a final of 101,1 points, a reachable score.
Staring in the lead with 7 points of advantage on the following EKIMOV, JIN shot two times in the ten ring, and then his scores started dropping, landing on an unbelievable 8.0 on his 4th competition shot. The paper of the electronic target had stopped scrolling down, but the athlete and his coach only noticed the malfunction on the seventh competition shots, issuing a protest.
The final round was interrupted, and the judges moved JIN to the spare target available for these emergency situations. The break lasted more then 5 minutes so, following the ISSF rules, was given to the finalists an additional five-minute sighting time.
JIN, clearly disappointed, lost his concentration and could not perform at his best on the new target. He closed the round with a 7.9 shot, finishing in second place behind Russia’s EKIMOV and winning Silver with a total score of 689.7 points (594+95.7).
Leonid EKIMOV of the Russian Federation, 21-year old, won gold with an outstanding final round of 104.0 points. An impressive average of 10.4 points per shot pushed him to the highest step of the podium, where he landed with a total score of 691.0 points (587+104.0).
The young pistol shooter EKIMOV finished in spotlights again with this excellent performance, confirming to be a rising shooting start. At the age of 21 years, he can display a wide medal collection, and the shooting fans should keep an eye on him. Next to nine European titles in different pistol events, the young EKIMOV has already won 5 World Cup medals, and has taken part in two Olympic finals in Beijing.
Bronze medal went to the Chinese shooter SHI Xinglong, 32-year old, who finished in third with 685.9 points (584+101.9) winning the battle for the podium against Mikhail NETRUEV o Russia, fourth today.
Published on 12 Apr 2009
10m Air Pistol M - JIN shattered a 20-year old record; final turned into an odyssey
Marco Dalla Dea
Korea's national hero Jin Jong Oh set a new world record (shattering a 20-year old redcord), but his chanches of shooting a new final world record where frustrated by mulfunctions. Russia's Ekimov took advantage of the situation, winning his firts Wolrd Cup gold medal and leaving Jin in second place.
