The last shot decided today’s 10m Air Pistol Men final, at the ISSF World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, as the winner of the 2015 Pan American Games Felipe Almeida Wu of Brazil (23) and the 2014 Continental American Championship winner, Will Brown of USA (24), tied at the penultimate shot with 191.7 points.
The two shooters fought since the beginning of the final, stately climbing up toward the podium placements.
When only two shots were left to fire, Brown held a narrow 0.3-point advantage on his Brazilian opponent, but as he shot a 10.2 to Wu’s 10.5, the two finished tied right before the last shot of the match.
The pressure of the final kicked-in: Brown scored a disappointing 9.7, while Wu zeroed and fired a winning 10.2, which allowed him to move in the lead and to secure the brightest medal with a total score of 201.9 points. Brown was left in second, with a Silver score of 201.4 points.
“It’s amazing, I am extremely happy, hard work paid-off today.” Said the Brazilian athlete.
“Since two years I have been training more, and results came along with efforts: I won the 2015 Pan American Games, and now I am upon the podium of the first world cup of the season.”
“This is a very important year for Brazil and for Brazilian sports,” Wu added. “We have all eyes on us. Our national media started following us more and more in the lead up to the Olympics. And this is crucial, especially for Shooting sport, which is not so popular in the country. I am happy to contribute to spread knowledge about our disciplines through my victories.”
“Winning the first international match of the year helps to build up confidence. I will continue to work, to be ready next August.”
Hoang Xuan Vinh, 41, from Vietnam, took Bronze with 180.1 points after fighting neck and neck against Wu and Brown.
Kazakhstan’s Rashid Yunusmetov, ranked 22nd in the world in this event, was also going for a medal, but a 9.3 at his 16th shot cost him the podium. The 36-year old athlete placed in 4th with 159.3 points, just 0.7 points far from the medalists.
Today’s turned into a disappointing final also for the winner of yesterday’s 50m Pistol Men event, India’s Jitu Rai (28). The Indian shooter started off the match with some strong scores, but then marked 8.8 and 9.9 on his 13th and 14th shots, dropping down in the placements and eventually taking the 5th place with 139.0 points.
Following him, the 40-year old Japanese finalist Tomoyuki Matsuda, the 2010 World Champion, took the 6th place with 118.1 points, while the 2008 Olympic Champion Pang Wei of the People Republic of China (29) closed the match in 7th with 97.4 points. Italy’s two-time Olympian Francesco Bruno (37) - ranked 114th in this event - finished in 8th with 78.2 points.
The ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, continues tomorrow. Stay tuned on www.issf-sports.org: the next two final rounds, the 10m Air Pistol and the 50m Rifle 3 Position Women medal matches, will be broadcasted live on the ISSF website at 11:00 AM and 13:15 (UTC+7), respectively.