China’s Zhu Qinan wins the first Gold medal of the ISSF World Cup in Munich

The three-time Olympian claimed his 21st World Cup medal in the 10m Air Rifle event, adding it to the Bronze one he already achieved in Changwon last April.

After winning the ISSF World Cup Bronze medal in Changwon, Korea, Zhu Qinan, the 30-year old former Olympic Champion of China, claimed the Gold at the 10m Air Rifle Men event in Munich today, where he scored 206.0 points and bested Russian Federation’s Vladimir Maslennikov, who missed an outstanding comeback for just 0.3 points, winning the Silver medal.

"I am really happy about this medal. It's never easy to win here in Munich, this is one of the most competitive environment for the Shooting sport.” Said the Gold medallist right after the awards ceremony.

Zhu rocketed atop of the table since the first series, firing in the 10s for sixteen consecutive times. After the 16th shot, his lead on 2nd-placed Maslennkov was a comforting 2.7, but as he missed the 10 in three out of his last four shots, he gave the crowd an exciting finale, topping his rival after the very last shot.

“I have already won an Olympic quota place, and that takes a lot of pressure out of the game. We are all preparing at our best for the 2016 Olympic Games. I really hope everything will go in the best way, and to be honest I am quite relaxed right now. The Games are still one year far away.” Concluded Zhu, who's heading to his fourth Olympic Games, after winning a Gold medal in Athens 2004 and a Silver in Beijing 2008. And after missing the final in London 2012 (when he placed 10^th), the 30-year old champion is now looking forward to Rio de Janeiro.

Maslennikov, a 20-year-old who won the Air Rifle Junior Gold medal at the 2014 ISSF World Championship in Granada, started the final slowly, tallying two 9s in his first series of shots, but came out strong immediately afterwards and caught the 2nd spot after the fifth series, where he also shot a perfect 10.9. He successfully defended his spot from Oleh Tsarkov, 27 from Ukraine, who finished with 184.2 points and claimed the first Olympic quota place for Rio 2016 to be assigned today.

Belarus’ Vitali Bubnovich, a 40-year-old who already took part in three Olympic Games, finished fourth with 163.5 points; while Chinese Haoran Yang, a 19-year-old who claimed the Air Rifle Gold medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, closed in fifth place, escaping the elimination for a matter of tenths for two times, and surrendering only after the sixth series.

The two remaining Olympic quota places up for grabs at today’s final went to India’s 2008 Olympic Champion Abhinav Bindra, 32, who finished in 6th position with 122.4 points; and to Serbia’s Stevan Pletikosic, 43, who nailed a score of 99.1 and placed 7th.

It only took eight shots to assign them, as the only other athlete competing for a slot was Romania’s Alin George Moldoveanu, who finished eighth leaving the competition with a score of 78.2 points.

The ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup will continue this afternoon with the 10m Air Rifle Women final, scheduled to take place at 5:00PM (GMT+2). The final will be broadcasted live on www.issf-sports.org.