New Delhi: The third day of the ISSF World Cup at New Delhi once again showed supreme performances from Chinese Shooters as the day kicked-off with an exciting 10m Air Pistol Women final, which turned once again into a stage of success for China.
In the first final of the day, 2014 Junior World Champion Lin Yuemei (23) won gold, followed by the reigning Olympic Champion – her teammate Zhang Mengxue (26) – with 240.8 points, setting the new world record. Lin had already participated in senior events in 2015 and 2016, winning a World Cup Silver in Gabala (AZE) two years ago.
Speaking post the win, Lin said, “I was kinda nervous during the match. Zhang is a great friend of mine, we train and spend a lot of time together. It’s a great feeling to win a medal here, in the first competition of the season.”
The silver medal went to the Olympic Champion Zhang who scored 237.8 points to take the second highest podium, while 28-year-old Teo Shun Xie of Singapore won Bronze medal with a score of 217.4.
India’s Harven Srao (30) who was seen as a surprise finalist, finished at 7th place with 133.6 points.
In the second final, the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men, Hui Zicheng of China climbed once again on the highest step of the ISSF World Cup podium. A day to mark his sixth World Cup gold, the 27-year-old performed an amazing comeback in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men final, as he was placed 7th after the first 15 shots and 5th at the end of the Prone shooting.
Speaking in the post match ceremony, Hui said, “It’s not the first time I do something like this in my career. I wasn’t actually looking at the scores along the match, but I felt that my shooting was getting better and better.”
With just four shots left, Hui was 3.0 points behind his teammate Sun Jian (25), who was making his first appearance in an ISSF event and led the match both at the end of the Kneeling series and after the 30th shot.
At that point, Hui grabbed the inertia of the match and started shooting with extreme precision: he hit the 10th ring with three of those last four shots, while at the same time Sun probably started feeling some pressure and nailed some poor scores.
Hui sealed his Gold medal with a great 10.6, finishing the match with 454.2 points, while Sun followed with 451.6 points. “I think my experience played an important role in this duel,” confessed the Gold medalist.
Switzerland’s Jan Lochbihler (24) also performed a great comeback, as he was standing in 6th place after 15 shots. Indeed, he nailed an excellent Prone series, climbing to the medal positions and battling with Hui and Sun all along the Standing shooting. Lochbihler then concluded 3rd with 440.2 points, obtaining the best placement of his career in a World Cup match.
Thailand’s Napis Tortungpanich (21) also made it into his first ISSF final match, finishing in 4th place with 429.5 points, followed by home favorite Sanjeev Rajput of India. The 36-year-old from Jagadhri, placed 5th with 420.6 points followed by Japan’s 39-year-old Yamashita Toshikazu, 22nd in this event at Rio 2016, who finished 6th with 410.2 points.
After the 40th shot, the lowest ranked shooter in the standings were Chinese Pan Junhui and Hungarian Peter Sidi, respectively 8th with 393.8 points and 7th with 400.1.