Junhong smashes pistol record in Changwon

The second ISSF World Cup of 2018 took place at the Changwon International Shooting Range in Korea. This venue will welcome qualifying athletes back in September for the 52nd World Championships, last contested in 2014 in Granada, Spain.

Nearly 900 shooters from 70 countries travelled to Changwon, but just one was singled out to receive a great honour – the ISSF Shooter of the Year award. Tomoyuki Matsuda from Japan was awarded the trophy in recognition of a successful 2017 season.

The .22LR events opened with the 25m Women’s Pistol competition. Australia’s Elena Galiabovitch won Silver in the Commonwealth Games, and added a World Cup Gold after two shoot-offs against Lin Yuemei from China. They were joined on the podium by Lin’s teammate Yao Yushi in third place, an impressive result from the World Cup debutant. All medallists trusted in ELEY ammunition.

Next up were the Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol shooters.   2014 World Champion Kim Junhong returned to the podium after four years to win Gold, and smashed the World Record by three points with 38 hits! It was the perfect warm up for the Korean athlete as he prepares to defend his title here in September. Kim used ELEY tenex pistol to take the record and the win, leading Germany’s Reitz and Geis.

The Men’s and Women’s 3 Position matches followed. Sergey Kamenskiy, one of the world’s finest shooters, hailed an excellent range as he added another Gold to his collection. Sergey excelled in the prone and standing positions to win by 1.6 points with ELEY, followed by De Nicolo and Peni.

ELEY’s Customer Range Manager Martyn Buttery was in the commentary box for the Women’s 3P final. He watched a thrilling match where just 0.1 of a point separated Gold and Silver, as first-timer Wang Zeru from China showed amazing composure to take the win ahead of Austria’s Franziska Peer. Bronze went to top qualifier Ziva Dvorsak from Slovenia using ELEY tenex.

Congratulations to all the medallists. The next World Cup follows in just one week, returning to Fort Benning, USA. Good luck!

Photo credit: ISSF 2018