Shahzar Rizvi couldn’t replicate his gold medal winning feat from Guadalajara, Mexico a few months back in Changwon, South Korea.
Shahzar Rizvi scored 239.8 points in the final of the 10m Air Pistol at the ISSF World in Changwon, South Korea. The score was good enough to bridge the gap at the top to a slender 0.2 points but not enough to get him the gold medal which went to Artem Chernousov of Russia on Tuesday. The thrilling finish meant Rizvi takes home a silver medal. He had won the gold medal in his first ISSF World Cup appearance at Guadalajara, Mexico while also creating a record with score of 242.3.
Chernousov took the lead after the first ten shots (110.6 points). From then on, shot after shot, he consolidated on that lead with a decent margin over his fellow competitors. By the 18th shot, he had collected 181.9 points, and a huge advantage of 4.1 points over his opponents. Then, the match turned on its head and into a rollercoaster ride. Chernousov fired 8.9 and a 9.4 shots, losing most of his lead. At the same time, behind him, Rizvi nailed a series of great shots, including a 10.9 on his 21st shot, bridging to the gap to 0.2 points. The last shot decided the final: Rizvi could not better Chernousov’s 10.0, and placed himself second with a total score of 239.8 points.
The bronze medal went to Bulgaria’s Olympian Samuil Donokov, 34, who claimed his first ISSF medal in career with 217.1 points.
The ISSF World Cup in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events in Changwon, Korea, is the second leg of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series. Over 800 shooters from 70 nations are taking part in the competition, as it serves as a test event for the 52nd ISSF World Championship in all Shooting events, to be held here in September.
