At the age of 33 Song Jong-Ho of the Republic of Korea won the first ISSF World Cup medal of his career in Cairo as he took gold in a stacked men’s 25m rapid fire pistol final.
Song finished an emphatic six shots clear of a hugely talented field headed by Kazakhstan’s 21-year-old Asian champion Nikita Chiryukin, totalling 37 – just two short of the world record set by China’s Li Yuehong in winning the world title in Baku last year.
The shooter from Seoul established his lead with a perfect record in his first two batches of five shots, and his huge consistency kept him clear of the Kazahkstan challenger who had taken Asian gold in Jakarta earlier in the month.
Both men scored perfect fives in their third-from-last sequence at Cairo’s Egypt International Olympic City shooting range, after which Song was three shots clear on 28, with third place being held by Germany’s 2023 World Cup Final champion Florian Peter on 22.
Peter shot a perfect five next time round, but still had to settle for bronze as he finished one shy of Chiryukin’s total at that point of 28, with Song on 32.
Chiryukin ended with a total of 31 as Song produced a final flourish of five hits in his final four-second burst.
Speaking afterwards to ISSF TV the Korean still seemed dazed by his performance.
“My heart is still beating!,” he said. “I tried hard for good quality for this competition. I tried with my skills and my thinking.
“It was my first time visit to here. But my friends got a gold medal here, and I saw that and I wanted to be winning there. Now I am winning here! It is my first World Cup medal and I am really happy.
“It was cold in qualification – but the final hall it is really hot now. It’s like my shooting!”
Chiryukin commented: “After winning the Asian title in Jakarta earlier this month I had only two days of training so I wasn’t prepared so much for this World Cup.
“But anyway I got a great result, I got to compete in the final and to get a silver medal – I didn’t expect it but I am very happy about this.
“I have already got an Olympic quota from Jakarta, and I will be doing a lot of training and competitions before then. When it comes to the Games I will have full armour!”
Peter, 24, was reflective after earning a second World Cup bronze.
“I’m happy that I won my second World Cup medal, and happy with the result, but not with my shooting technique in the final,” he said. “There were too many mistakes that I shouldn’t do, so I’m not happy with that.
“It’s the first competition of the year, the routine is missing. So I think this will happen at the next World Cups.
“Qualification was shaky as well, but it was worse in the final, which is normal!”
Italy’s 24-year-old Massimo Spinella, who won gold at last year’s Cairo World Cup, missed the podium by one place today.
Fifth place went to Ukraine’s Maksym Horodynets, with Song’s team-mate Lee Jaekyoon finishing sixth.
The qualification was hugely competitive, with France’s male Athlete of the Year for 2023, world silver medallist Clement Bessaguet, missed the final by two places, just ahead of Germany’s Rio 2016 champion Christian Rietz.
The next two places were occupied by top 21-year-old Indian talents Anish Anish and Asian silver medallist Sidhu Vijayveer.