Kneeling, Prone and Standing: the three positions were conducted for the first time in an ISSF final, following the new Rules. Serbia ruled the match, with two athletes on the podium.
It has been a great day for Serbia, today, at the 2013 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon, Korea.
After the Bronze medal won by Zorana Arunovic at today’s 10m Air Pistol Women event, two Serbian shooters finished on the podium of the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women event.
Andrea Arsovic, 26, secured the Gold medal with a strong final of 455.5 points, winning her first ISSF Gold medal.
And this will be remembered as a special one: this was indeed the first time that the new rules for the Rifle 3 Positions event were applied. With the new rules, qualification scores are not carried forward, and all the three positions are conducted in the final. Starting with the kneeling position, the medal match continues then with the prone. Then, moving to the standing, eliminations start, and the shooters with the lowest rank have to leave the match after every series.
The Changing Time is an additional challenge: shooters get seven minutes to change from Kneeling to Prone, and nine minutes to change from Prone to Standing. Adding pressure, the Changing Time includes the sighting time. Therefore, fast shooters to change will have more sighting time at her disposal.
Talong Ivana Maksimovic turned out to be comfortable with the new rules, pocketing the Bronze with 442.5 points, behind China’s Li Peijing, 24, who won the Silver. The 2012 Olympic Silver medallist of Serbia had already finished on the podium two days ago, at the 10m Air Rifle Women event.
“Rules worked for me here: I was starting in last after the qualifications, and I finished on the podium.” Maksimovic said after the final.
“It has not been the same at the Europeans, where I was first and I finished in last, but I’ve learned from that experience. These are the new rules, and we will have to get used to them.”
“I am usually a nervous person, so the changing time puts pressure on me. But we have been training a lot over the winter brake, and these results are rewarding.”
Silvia Rachl of Germany, the winner of the 10m Air Rifle Women event, placed fourth with 431.7 points.
Linda Olofsson of Sweden, who led the final match throughout the Kneeling and the Prone phases, finished out of the podium at the Standing, placing in fifth with 419.8 points. Iwata Seiko of Japan followed her in sixth with 408.6 points.
The two Korean teammates Na Yoon Kyung and Hana Jang closed the match in seventh and eighth place, with 397.7 and 394.9 points, respectively.