ISSF World Cup Rifle / Pistol · Munich, GER

The Greek 21-year-old finally climbed atop the ISSF World Cup podium, after having collected Gold medals at the Olympic Games and in many other ISSF competitions. Ukraine’s Olena Kostevych finished in 2nd position, while China’s Lin Yuemei claimed the Bronze.

It took probably more than anyone would expect, but in the end Greece’s Anna Korakaki won her first career World Cup Gold in Munich (GER).

The 21-year-old born in Drama, who closed an outstanding 2016 with two Olympic medals around her neck, as well as an ISSF World Cup Final title and two Junior World Cup medals, had not climbed to the highest step of the ISSF World Cup podium until today.

At the Olympia Schießanlage in Munich, however, Korakaki finally broke the spell, battling with Lin Yuemei of the People’s Republic of China all along the first half of the match, eventually sailing away for good with a consistent performance in the second part of the final.

“It’s been an amazing competition for me here in Munich,” said Korakaki, who already won Bronze in the 25m Pistol Women three days ago. “It is the only World Cup stage I will compete in this season and I’m very happy with my results!”

“I only had Silvers and Bronzes so far, so this is my first Gold in a World Cup… I definitely hope it won’t be the last!” concluded Korakaki, who claimed the Gold with the final score of 241.2 points.

After falling behind her Greek rival, Lin also slipped down to 3rd position, as she missed the 10th ring with all her last six shots and allowed Ukraine’s Olena Kostevych (32) to claim the Silver medal with 238.3 points. The Chinese 23-year-old scored 217.5 points and secured her second consecutive medal after winning Gold at the first World Cup stage of the season in New Delhi (IND).

Spain’s 38-year-old Sonia Franquet finished just outside of the medal positions with 198.5 points, as she lost a tie-breaking shoot-off against Kostevych by hitting a very disappointing 7.3 that gave her the 4th place.

Franquet was followed by Russian Federation’s Vitalina Batsarashkina (20), who concluded in 5th place with 177.8, and by the second Chinese participant, 38-year-old Hu Jun. Hu finished 6th with 157.0 points and qualified for the final phase of the women’s 10m Air Pistol event eight years after her last one.

France’s Celine Goberville (30) and Switzerland’s Heidi Diethelm Gerber (48) both struggled to find the right focus in the final, and concluded the match in the bottom two positions: Goberville placed 7th with 135.4 points, while Diethelm Gerber finished in 8th place with 114.4.

The 2017 ISSF World Cup Series will continue in Gabala (AZE), where the fifth and final stage of the season is scheduled to take place from the 6th to the 14th of June.

News and updates about the competition will be available on issf-sports.org and on the many social media platforms of the Federation: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.