ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun · Baku, AZE

Brazil’s top-ranked shooter collected his second world cup gold of the season in Baku, 41 days before the opening ceremony of Rio 2016.

Brazil’s Felipe Almeida Wu collected the men’s 10m Air Pistol gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, today, reaching another important milestones ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The 24-year old athlete, ranked 5th in the world, had also won the first world cup stage of the season, held in Bangkok, Thailand.

After qualifying with 583 points, Wu started off the final with a disappointing 8.5 in his first series. But soon he recovered, and after the 12th shot he had already reached the top of the scoreboard.

Shooting consistently, he defended the lead, keeping India’s Jitu Rai and Korea’s Jin Jongoh behind him, to close the match in first place with 200.0 points.

Rai, 28, finished in second place with 199.5 points, after breathtaking last series. The three-time Olympic champion Jin, 36, followed him in third place with 178.8 points, collecting his second medal in a row, following yesterday’s 50m Pistol Men Gold.

“The competition has been really tough,” said Wu after the final.

“I hit four 8s, while I was expecting to shoot better. Right at the beginning of the final I made a couple of mistakes again, but I was able to control myself and that gave me confidence,” he added.

“We have the Olympic Games in front of us, and learning to control my emotions is crucial,” explained the Brazilian athlete.

“I am doing the best I can to prepare for Rio 2016. These months have been really stressful, we have been traveling a lot, but I hope that all the hard work will pay off, at the end. I think I will be more calm during the Games.”

Today’s final delivered another good news to Brazil: Julio Almeida, 46, ranked 57th in the world, is peaking right before the Games, and he marked his best world cup finish ever here in Baku, taking the fourth place with 155.0 points. He survived the fourth elimination of the final beating Serbia’s Dimitrije Grgic, 31, who was left in fifth place with 137.6 points.

Italy’s Giuseppe Giordano, 41, also improved his records, finishing in 6th place with 117.1 points, his best world cup result in career in this event. The Italian shooter disappointed the 2015 European Games silver medalist Joao Costa of Portugal, 51, who placed in seventh with 95.9 points, while Jin Jongoh’s teammate Lee Daemyung, 27, scored 76.1 points to finish in eighth place.