THE 50TH ISSF WORLD SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP IN MUNICH

25m RapId FIRE pISTOL
mEN
IT’S kLImOV’S TImE!
Finally, the time of alexei KlimOv has
come! The Russian record setter, who has
ranquel among the best pistol shooters of
the world for a decade, finally won the World
Champion Title in the 25m Rapid Fire Men
event, a trophy that he had been pursuing for
a while. Klimov proved to be the best of the
world several times, like when he set the current
World Record of 591 points, or when he
won the 2006, 2008 and 2009 World Cup Finals.
Always there, always between the best
during the regular season, the experienced
Russian shooter did not perform at his best in
the past ISSF World Championship editions,
placing 25 th in 2002 and 17 th in 2006. But,
shooting for an Olympic Qualification here in
Munich, Klimov eventually made it. Entering
the final match with 585 points, he climbed
the scoreboard to the first place by shooting
202.1 points during the four final series, and
1st KlimOv, alexei (rUs)
climbed to the highest step of the podium
with a total score of 787.1 Points, enough to
defeat his Chinese opponent Zhang Jian and
to earn an Olympic Quota Place. “The ISSF
World Championship is always a difficult
competition: all the best are here, all of them
are motivated to win. I did not expect to wear
the Gold!” Klimov said after the final round,
before the cameras of Eurovision “I feel great
for winning this title and an Olympic Qualification
spot!”
“The light made it even more difficult. I
am wearing glasses and there was a bothersome
reflection. Therefore I called my coach
and I asked him to pass me a cap, right before
the first competition series” explained
Klimov, who climbed the division that separates
the audience from the athletes in order
to reach his coach just seconds before the
match started.
50 th ISSF World ChampIoNShIp muNICh
2nd ZhanG, Jian (chn)
3rd li, yuehong (chn)
With his performance, the Russian athlete
manager to create a large gap between him
and his Chinese opponents, who placed in
second and third place behind him, earning
the Silver and the Bronze, as well as the last
two Olympic Quota Places to be awarded in
this match. ZhanG Jian, 24 years old, who
started the final round in first place with the
highest qualification score (587 points), eventually
earned the Silver medal and the second
Quota with a total score of 785.6 points.
He was followed in third place by his
team-mate, the Rapid Fire Pistol up-and-coming
shooting star of the year, li yUehOnG.
The 21-year old shooter won two World Cup
Stages this year climbing up the World Ranking
to the first place. But here in Munich,
where experience and nerves count as much
as technique, the young athlete finished in
third place, obtaining an Olympic Quota Place
with 782.1 (584+198.1) points. “These young
Chinese shooters are extremely strong – commented
new World Champion Klimov, while
looking at their scores – But I am glad to compete
against them. Competing against champions
makes the game even more interesting!”
It was indeed the Chinese team which
finish at the top of the teams’ podium with an
overall World Record score of 1749 points. The
Russian team, led by Klimov and his 22-year
old team-mate Leonid Ekimov (fourth with
780.8 points) finished in second, securing the
Silver medal with 1732 points. The teams’
Bronze went to the United States of America
with 1731 points, while home champions Ralf
Schumann, Christian Reitz and Philipp Wagenitz
ended up in fourth with 1730 points.
ISSF NEWS 45