World shooting powerhouse China has rested at the top of the medal standings at the Munich leg of the ISSF World Cup, which ended on Wednesday.
Boasting four golds, four silvers and one bronze, China thus is the top winner in the 8-day tournament. Ukraine and Israel come next with two golds each.
On Wednesday, China added one gold and one silver to cement the top place at the medal table.
Chinese green horn shooter He Zhaohui grabbed the gold medal of men's 50m rifle three positions, sealing the fourth gold for the Chinese team, while veteran lady shooter Tong Xin pocketed a silver in women's 10m air pistol after she was close to edge Ukraine's Athens Olympic champion Olena Kostevych.
In the third and last event on Wednesday, Czech shooter Jan Sychra won the gold medal of men's skeet.
To the surprise of the audience at the Munich Olympic Shooting Range, China's He Zhaohui finished first in the qualifying round of men's 50m rifle three positions with 1,182 points.
In the final stage of the disciple, He shot a consistent competition in the final to win the gold with a big margin of 6.8 points against the silver winner Mario Knoegler from Austria, who scored 1,276.7 points.
U.S. Olympic champion Matthew Emmons, who placed the fourth in the qualifying round, staged a chasing drama in the final, but a poor score of 9.3 points in the last shot sent him to the third place in the final.
This is the first World Cup gold medal for He, who joined the national team earlier this year.
"I was very excited," said He, adding that he was not only pleased with the first international gold medal, but also overjoyed with meeting with Emmons.
When Emmon went over to congratulate He, He said he almost could not control his excitement.
"I'm very happy, because Emmons is my idol," said the 20-year-old.
The Munich leg of the ISSF World Cup is He's first overseas competition, and he felt no pressure and was very relaxed in the final.
For one thing, the green horn even yawned for several times in the final.
"I was a little bit over excited in the middle, but I then controlled myself," he said.
He's total score of 1,283.5 points is also a new national record, but he said he had shot more in his drills at the national team.
In women's 10m air pistol, Ukraine's Athens Olympic champion Olena Kostevych defended her honor. Kostevych, who scored 390 points in the qualifying round, successfully endured the challenge in the final stage from Chinese shooter Tong Xin to take the gold medal, the second one for the Ukrainian team at the Munich tournament so far.
Tong shot an amazing score of 103.6 points in the final, far better than Kostevych's 99.4 points, but shot an awkward 9.3 points in the last try, ending up with the silver for being shy of 0.8 point in the total score against Kostevych.
Lee Ho Lim from South Korea claimed the bronze.
During the final stage, the competition between Kostevych and Tong allured the eyes of the audience at the Munich Olympic Shooting Range.
Despite being short of 4.0 points against Kostevych in the qualifying round, China's Tong consistently shot amazing scores of 10.5 points and above in the first three shots, elevating herself to the second place.
However, Kostevych shot two awkward scores of 8.4 points and 8.8 points in the beginning stage, narrowing down the gap with Tong, the major challenger.
With another two sparkling scores of 10.8 points in the seventh and eighth shots, Tong successfully shortened the margin against Kostevych to a slim 0.4 point.
In the ninth shot, however, Tong, who grabbed the gold medal at this event in the South Korea leg of the ISSF shooting World Cup, scored 10.6 points to eventually outscore Kostevych by 0.3 point.
In the breath-taking last shot, Tong made an eager shot of 9.3 points, while Kostevych, who, in most cases, was the last to trigger, managed to shot 10.4 points, igniting relief sighs from local audience in the final hall of the Munich Olympic Shooting Range.
"I just concentrated on myself, I didn't know Tong's excellent shots," Kostevych told Xinhua after the victory ceremony.
"I think she has a good future," the world champion added.
Recalling her performance in the final, Tong said she knew she would seal a medal, but she was "too much relaxed" in the last shot.
In the men's skeet, the last event of the tournament, Czech shooter Jan Sychra claimed the gold with 149 hits.
The Czech athlete also tied the current world record of 125 hits out of 125 targets in the qualifying round of the last event of the 8-day tournament, which concluded here on Wednesday.
Georgios Achilleos from Cyprus and Valerio Luchini of Italy both scored 148 hits, but the former hit two targets in the shootoff stage to snatch the silver, edging the latter, who hit one target in the shootoff, to the third place.
Shooters from all across the world will move to Milan of Italy on Thursday for the next leg of the ISSF World Cup.
(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2009)
