ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol · Munich, GER

The Portuguese athlete won today’s 50m Pistol Men final. It’s the third time he gains an ISSF World Cup Gold medal at the Munich shooting range.

Four-time Olympian Joao Costa, from Portugal, ruled today’s 50m Pistol Men final from the 1st shot, defending himself from the comeback of his rivals Zhang Bowen of China, and Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan.

Costa, 50 years old, took the lead after an outstanding first series of shots, where he nailed three shots over the 10.1 mark, and saw his advantage increasing to 6.9 points after the fifth series. The 2009 World Cup Final Silver medallist, tough, shot a disappointing 6.4 on his 13th shot, losing half of his lead to United States’ Will Brown. Costa, however, didn’t lose his concentration. He immediately zeroed in, eventually concluding with a final score of 194.7 points and climbing on the highest step of the ISSF World Cup podium for the third time in his career.

“It has been an amazing final. I shot consistently for the whole final, the first six shots were very good.” Said Costa after the medal ceremony. “I like Munich very much, it’s my third Gold medal in the 50m Pistol event and I also won a Bronze in the Air Pistol event here.”

“Of course I’m getting better with age! I don’t want to open my 50-year-old bottle of good wine yet. Maybe after the Olympics… Age is not an issue in the shooting sport, the better results come with the experience.” Concluded Costa.

Despite starting the final in the lower end of the table, China’s Zhang Bowen, 19, ended with a Silver medal around his neck. The Gold medallist of this year’s World Cup stage in Changwon, patiently climbed the scoreboard and grabbed the 2nd spot only after the seventh series, finishing with 188.5 points.

The Bronze medal went to Japanese athlete Tomoyuki Matsuda, who also claimed a precious Olympic quota place for his country. Matsuda bested fourth placed Will Brown, 23, who held the second place throughout the first part of the match, but then slid down in the placements in the final phase of the competition. Matsuda and Brown respectively finished with 168.6 and 151.2 points.

Italy’s Giuseppe Giordano, 40, dealt with some pressure on his third series, avoiding the elimination in spite of a bad 7.6 shot and guaranteeing himself the second and last Olympic slot up for grabs in this event. The 2013 European Champion then concluded in 5th place with 129.9 points.

Three-time World Cup Gold medallist Damir Mikec, 31 from Serbia, marked a score of 110.3 points and ended in 6th place despite starting with a strong first series; while Granada 2014 Bronze medallist, China’s Pang Wei, tallied 92.1 points, finishing in 7th position after avoiding the first elimination with two great 10.1 shots.

A disappointed Denis Koulakov, 32 from the Russian Federation, was the first to leave the competition, quitting the race for the Olympic quota and taking the eighth place with 72.6 points.

The ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup will continue today with the 25m Pistol Women final, scheduled to take place at 1:30PM (GMT+2). The final will be broadcasted live on www.issf-sports.org.