ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol · Munich, GER

The first-time finalist ranked 120th in the world claimed an odd-defying victory with over 3 points of advantage on her followers.

Three first-time world cup finalists made it to the women’s 10m Air Rifle podium, at the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Munich, today: Romania’s Laura Georgeta Ilie, Czech Republic’s Gabriela Vognarova and Iran’s Sadeghian Armina.

24-year old Ilie finished atop of the podium with 250.2 points, turning out to be unreachable by her opponents, as she closed the match with 3.7 points of advantage on silver medalist Vognarova.

The Rumanian athlete, ranked 120th in the world in this event, had recorded her best world cup finish in 2016, in Bangkok, where she placed 10th. Today, she led the match since the first series, increasing her advantage shot after shot.

“It’s great, it feels great,” she said.

“I walked into the final trying to control my emotions. That’s key in our sport: to keep the focus. I knew I was shooting well, but I kept it easy, and I am happy that I finally made it.”

“I started shooting seven years ago, when I was 17, through a school program. To be honest, at the beginning I only did it for my grades,” she added smiling, “then I got hooked by the sport and continued training, improving competition after competition. And in 2015 I won gold in the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event at the Universiade.”

“Indeed, I compete in both the air rifle and the three positions events. So I will be back on the range in three days.”

“I would like to dedicate this medal to my family and my friends, who always supported me!”

24-year old Vognarova, a 2010 Youth Olympic Games silver medalist, took today’s Silver with 246.5 points. Iran’s 15-year old Armina, today’s youngest finalist, followed her in 3rd claiming Bronze with 227.1 after surviving a shoot-off against Norway’s 23-year old two-time Olympian Malin Westerheim, who closed the match in 4th with 206.3 points.

The ISSF World Cup title holder, Serbia’s Andrea Arsovic, 30, was eliminated after the 14th shot, taking the 7th place with 143.9 points behind Russia’s Anastasiia Galashina (5th with 183.8 p.ts) and Austria’s Franziska Peer (6th with 164.6 p.ts). The 2009 Asian Champion Lee Eunseo of the Republic of Korea followed in 8th place with 122.6 points.

753 athletes from 80 nations are competing in the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Munich, from the 18th through the 23rd of May.

The world cup stage will continue tomorrow, May 20, with two medal events: the men’s 50m Pistol final will be held at 11.15 (GMT+3), and it will be followed by the women’s 25m Pistol final at 13.30.

All final matches will be streamed live on the ISSF website, on the Federation’s Livestream channel and on its official Facebook page.

Live results of the competition, news and updates will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all ISSF social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku