The 2015 ISSF World Cup Final in Munich was closed today by the men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions final, which saw the success of London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Emmons of USA. The 34-year old shooter scored 458.8 points, claiming his sixth world cup final title since 2002, as well as a spot in the Rio 2016 US Olympic team.
On his way to the highest step of the podium, Emmons beat the winner of yesterday's 10m Air Rifle Men final, China's 19-year old Yang Haoran, who closed the match in second place with 458.2 points setting a new Final Junior World Record (junior records can be achieved also in senior finals). The title defender and reigning European Champion Sergey Kamenskiy of Russia (27) followed them in third place, with 447.0 points.
"I can't say it was easy, that's for sure." Emmons said right after the final. "Really the biggest thing for me here was to try to qualify for the Olympic team. And that means I needed a medal."
"Now I made it for the 50m Rifle 3 Position event. I will have to shoot the trials for the 50m Rifle Prone next April. We'll see." Emmons explained.
Earlier today, host country Germany celebrated two medals, as Selina Gschwandtner and Barbara Engleder won gold and silver at the women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions final.
21-year old Gschwandtner took the lead of the match since the kneeling series, finishing ahead of her teammate Barbara Engleder (32) with 459.4 points. Engleder, the 2010 ISSF World Champion, took silver with 455.6 points. The title defender and current world's #1 Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia (32) followed the two German teammates in third place, securing bronze with 446.5 points.
"It feels great! There are so many spectators here in Munich, the support I have received is fantastic!" Gschwandtner said after the final. "This event is quite challenging, it's not easy to shoot well in all three positions, during the same match," she added. "Now, I hope I will be able to shoot at the Olympics in Rio. There will be a selection match in 2016, and I hope I will make it through."
The ISSF World Cup Final, held at the 1972 Olympic shooting range of Munich form the 2nd through the 6th of September, saw the world's 85 best rifle and pistol shooters competing in 10 Olympic events, aiming at the ISSF World Cup titles.
Some 1179 athletes coming from 103 countries participated in this year's four ISSF World Cup stages in Changwon (KOR), Fort Benning (USA), Munich (GER) and Gabala (AZE) – adding up to some 4000 starts – to select the world cup final participants.
Once again, it was the People's Republic of China that finished atop of the overall medal standings of the Final, with 3 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronzes, for a total of 6 medals. USA followed in second place, with two golds, while the Russian Federation placed in third with 1 gold, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes. The host country, Germany, took the fourth place with 1 gold and 1 silver medals.
Five world records were scored during the event. Three of them were set by China's 19-year old Yang Haoran, who established a new men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions junior world record of 1181 points, a new final junior world record of 458.2 points in the same event, and a new junior world record of 632.7 points at the men's 10m Air Rifle event. Yang beat himself, as he held all the records he shuttered. Another up-and-coming shooter, Jean Quiquampoix of France, set a new Final Junior World Record of 32 hits at the men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol final, breaking his own 31-hit record. Today, Barbara Engleder of Germany equalled the women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions world record of 592 points.
The competition was organized in combination with the German Shooting Championship, one of the largest shooting competitions of the world, with a participation of more than 8 thousand athletes over two weeks.
"We are very happy about the success of this year's ISSF World Cup Final." The ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said. "The event has been very well organized, and we have been witnessing some excellent shooting competitions. The best athletes of the world have been shooting here in these days."
"The Final was organized in combination with the German Shooting Championship, which recorded once again a very large participation. The support of the spectators has been great, and this shows us how popular is the sport in this country."
While Munich's was the last ISSF competition of the year for rifle and pistol athletes, the season continues for shotgun shooters. Coming up in next, the 2015 ISSF Shotgun World Championship will be conducted in Lonato, Italy, from the 9th through the 18th of September. The first medal match, the women's trap final, is due on the 11th of September.
For more information, contact:
Marco DALLA DEA
ISSF Communication Manager
marco@issf-sports.org
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