Australia’s Lalita Yauhleuskaya took sixth place after making the finals of the women’s 10m Air Pistol at the ISSF Munich World Cup round. She finished with a score of 483.3 to achieve the top result among the strong Australian contingent.
China dominated the medals at the rifle and pistol event, while several Australians scored impressive results at this final shoot before the London Olympic Games begin in two months.
Warren Potent looks on track for another Olympic appearance, finishing 10th in the men’s 50m Rifle Prone event – missing the finals by just a point after shooting 596.
Dane Sampson was 13th on the same score but two bulls behind. Fellow Aussie Thomas Versace was 54th with 591.
Dina Aspandiyarova was not far behind Yauhleuskaya in the air pistol event, coming 18th on 382, while Emily Esposito was 56th on 374.
Hayley Chapman, 20, added herself to the list of candidates likely to be represent Australia at the Olympics, topping her team mates in the women’s 25m Sports Pistol. Her score of 577 would have put her in the top 25, but she was not competing on the official scorecard.
Yauhleuskaya, Esposito and Aspandiyarova shot scores of 572, 566 and 563 respectively in the same competition.
Among other Aussie results, Daniel Repacholi ended up 23rd in the men’s 50m Pistol (556) and Robyn Van Nus was 25th in the women’s 3 Position Rifle (579).
China ended the Munich shoot with six medals, including four gold, ahead of Korea’s two golds and a bronze, with the Serbians third after bagging one gold and three silvers.
“The shooters are peaking on their road to the Games,” ISSF vice president Gary Anderson said, but it’s clear many of them are looking forward to a short rest after the intensity of the series, which saw three rounds compressed into just over two months, and the last two rounds held back to back.
“I am really tired, after competing in Milan last week, and then here,” Italian star Niccolo Campriani said after winning the men’s 3 Position Rifle, his third gold medal of the series. “I made it to four finals, and I start feeling it. It’s not so easy to keep the focus when you’re psychologically tired.”
Australia’s shooters will return home to await the announcement of who has made the Olympic team.
The World Cup series for rifle and pistol now has a long layoff before the finals are held in October in Thailand, where only the top qualifiers and some wildcards will compete.
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