World No. 1 Kimberly Rhode of the US was in awesome form as she won a marathon shootoff 22-21 to clinch the women’s skeet gold.
It was a classy and gutsy fare as the 37-year-old Rhode beat the reigning Olympic champion Diana Bacosi of Italy in defending her trophy in the World Cup Final at the Dr. Karni Singh Range in Tughlakabad on Wednesday.
It was the third World Cup Final gold for Rhode who had won it last year in Rome.
On Wednesday, after being tied with Bacosi on 56 out of 60, that equalled her own world record, Rhode did not miss a bird, despite the poor visibility and the machines being exhausted of the clay birds. The curtains on the competition came down, as Bacosi missed the 22nd bird on the fifth station.
Special treat
For the sparse gathering that had waited, it was a special treat to watch the masterly performance by Rhode who has six Olympic medals including three gold. She shot 78 out of 82 birds in the final, after having topped qualification with 73 out of 75 spread over three rounds.
Another American, the reigning World Champion Dania Jo Vizzi took the bronze ahead of compatriot Caitlin Connor, Simona Scocchetti of Italy and Wei Meng of China.
It was the 20-year-old Istvan Peni of Hungary who clinched the men’s air rifle gold, 0.3 point ahead of the 42-year-old Vitali Bubnovich of Belarus, while the seasoned Peter Sidi of Hungary, the defending champion, clinched the bronze.
The lone Indian in action this day, Ravi Kumar, did well to qualify in the fifth place, but a below-par start in the final saw him crash out first after 12 shots.
In women’s air pistol, the 31-year-old Celine Goberville of France clinched the gold, despite an 8.5 on the penultimate shot in the final.
The results:
Men: 10m air rifle: 1. Istvan Peni (Hun) 249.8 EWRJ (628.0); 2. Vitali Bubnovich (Blr) 249.5 (625.9); 3. Peter Sidi (Hun) 228.5 (622.9); 8. Ravi Kumar 123.4 (623.9).
Women: 10m air pistol: 1. Celine Goberville (Fra) 240.9 (385); 2. Lin Yuemei (Chn) 237.0 (380); 3. Zhang Mengxue (Chn) 218.7 (391).
Skeet: 1. Kimberly Rhode (USA) 56 EWR (22) 73(2); 2. Diana Bacosi (Ita) 56 (21) 70(3); 3. Dania Jo Vizzi (USA) 44 (72)4.
