He did it again!
Jin Jongoh came back from a 6.2-point deficit and secured his second consecutive 10m Air Pistol Men world title in a sold-out finals hall at the Changwon International Shooting Centre.
After he started the final with a 9.4 and an 8.4, Jin found himself in 7th place at the end of the first 5-shot series, battling to avoid elimination instead of competing for a medal. However, shot after shot, his shooting got progressively better and he started climbing up the standings and overtaking his rivals.
The first shooter eliminated from the match was India’s 29-year-old Abhishek Verma, who placed 8th with 118.0 points. A few moments later, Verma was quickly followed by Vietnam’s 44-year-old Tran Quoc Cuong — 7th with 136.9 points — and by Republic of Korea’s Han Seungwoo (35) — 6th with 158.8.
After shot number 18, when Ruslan Lunev (29) of Azerbaijan took 5th place with 177.7 points, the four Olympic quota places up for grabs were awarded to the Republic of Korea — which took two quotas — the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
There, with six shots left to fire, the gap that separated Jin Jongoh from Russian Federation’s 22-year-old Artem Chernousov — who led the match since the very first shot — was 6.2 points, and as the crowd started getting louder Jin nailed a fantastic series of shots in the 10th ring, first reducing the gap to 4.0 points with a 10.5-10.4 combination, then inching even closer with a 10.2 and a 10.6.
Finally, with the two conclusive shots the four-time Olympic Champion erased the remaining gap, and the two athletes finished the 24-shot round tied at 241.5 points, both winning a long and well deserved applause of the crowd.
In the following and decisive shoot-off, Jin Jongoh fired his eighth consecutive shot in the 10th ring, scoring a 10.3, besting Chernousov’s 9.5 and confirming himself as the ISSF World Championship gold medalist in the Air Pistol event. Chernousov, who entered the match as the World Ranking number 4, finished with the silver medal around his neck in his first World Championship participation.
“I was very disappointed after my first series,” said Jin. “This could be the last World Championship for me, so I told myself I couldn’t make any other mistake.”
“I’m extremely happy we got both quotas and to be on the podium with my teammate. We spent most of the time together, talked a lot and supported each other.”
“We’ll have a get-together very soon to celebrate, but for today I’ll just clear my mind and enjoy this moment!” he concluded.
The podium was completed by Jin’s teammate Lee Daemyung (29), who took bronze with 220.6 points. It’s the second World Championship medal for Lee, who won 50m Pistol Men silver in Munich (GER) in 2010. Lee was followed by Ukraine’s Pavlo Korostylov (20), who concluded in 4th position with 198.5 points.
With three shooters in the final, the Republic of Korea also bagged the team gold medal quite easily, totalizing 1747 points. India and the Russian Federation took silver and bronze, respectively scoring 1738 and 1736 total points.
The ISSF World Championship in Changwon (KOR) will continue tomorrow with four more finals: the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men, scheduled at 12:15 pm (UTC+9:00), the 10m Air Rifle Men Junior, taking place at 2:00 pm, the 10m Air Rifle Women Junior, taking place at 3:45 pm, and the Trap Mixed Team, which will close the competition day at 5:00 pm.
Footage of the Olympic events will be distributed worldwide via EBU and broadcasted live on the ISSF website, on the Federation’s Livestream channel and on its official Facebook page.
Live results, 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.