Day-3 of the ISSF Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun World Cup in New Delhi, India, kicked-off with an exciting 10m Air Pistol Women final, which turned once again into a stage fo success for the People’s Republic of China.
2014 Junior World Champion Lin Yuemei, 23, finished atop of the podium, outscoring 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, Azerbaijan, two years ago.
“Actually I was kinda nervous during the final match,” said Lin at the end of the medal ceremony. “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 goal of a shooter is always to win at the Olympics, so it’s never too early to set them as a goal,” continued Lin. “The Organizing Committee did a great job here, everything was perfect, it was also thanks to their excellent job that I won this Gold!”
Olympic Champion Zhang scored 237.8 points to take today’s silver.
The People’s Republic of China therefore continues to dominate the championship: so far, their athletes won 4 out of the 6 gold medals up for grabs here in New Delhi, and an impressive total tally of 7 out of 18 possible medals. Nine more events will be conducted from today right to the 3rd of March, when the first World Cup stage of the season will be officially closed.
Singapore’s Teo Shun Xie, 28, - the winner of last year’s world cup bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro, - scored 217.4 points to win today’s bronze medal.
Two teammates from Chinese Taipei, Yu Ai Wen, 21, and Tien Chia Chen, 33, followed the medallists in 4th and 5th place with 196.5 and 175.6 points, respectively.
20-year old Michelle Skeries of Germany, compering in her first senior match after wining a silver medal at last year’s ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, scored 154.4 points to finish in 6th place.
Golnoush Sebghatollahi of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 26, competing in her first world cup final match today, was the first to drop out of the elimination match after shot 12, taking the 8th place with 113.7 points. India’s Harven Srao, 30, followed her two shots later, closing the final in 7th place with 133.6 points.
Day-3 of the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi will now continue with the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions final at 13.00 (UT+5.30). Follow the match live on www.issf-sports.org.