Norway's Jeanette Hegg Duestad continued her great run of results in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions by winning again on the ISSF World Cup circuit, in Ningbo, China.
Duestad, who defeated Emely Jaeggi of Switzerland to the gold in Munich last time out and took silver in Lima back in April, finished top of the World Cup rankings for the event, cementing her place as one of the favourites heading into the ISSF World Championship and ISSF World Cup Final.
Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions
Of those eligible to qualify, Duestad was the top athlete and would be joined by Katerina Stefankova of Czechia and Rikke Ibsen of Denmark, who beat her to the European title in Chateauroux following a costly mistake from the Norwegian.
Despite competition taking place many timezones away, seven of the eight qualifiers hailed from Europe. Duestad's teammate Pernille Nor-Woll and Stefankova's compatriot Barbora Dubska joined them; as did Serbian Aleksandra Havran, Swiss Olympic champion Nina Christen and Germany's Anna Janssen. China's Zhang Liyuan was the only outlier here, hoping to bring cheers to the home crowd.
However, Zhang would exit in seventh, alongside Havran in eighth, having fallen adrift of the top six. Christen's lower scores in the first standing shots effectively consigned her to sixth place too after a promising start, having sat second after the prone section.
But it was clear early on, that Duestad had this competition by the scruff of its neck. She excelled both in kneeling and prone sections, holding a lead of 2.5 into the standing. This grew to 4.1 as they entered the standing shots, followed by Ibsen and Dubska.
Duestad, who defeated Emely Jaeggi of Switzerland to the gold in Munich last time out and took silver in Lima back in April, finished top of the World Cup rankings for the event, cementing her place as one of the favourites heading into the ISSF World Championship and ISSF World Cup Final.
Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions
Of those eligible to qualify, Duestad was the top athlete and would be joined by Katerina Stefankova of Czechia and Rikke Ibsen of Denmark, who beat her to the European title in Chateauroux following a costly mistake from the Norwegian.
Despite competition taking place many timezones away, seven of the eight qualifiers hailed from Europe. Duestad's teammate Pernille Nor-Woll and Stefankova's compatriot Barbora Dubska joined them; as did Serbian Aleksandra Havran, Swiss Olympic champion Nina Christen and Germany's Anna Janssen. China's Zhang Liyuan was the only outlier here, hoping to bring cheers to the home crowd.
However, Zhang would exit in seventh, alongside Havran in eighth, having fallen adrift of the top six. Christen's lower scores in the first standing shots effectively consigned her to sixth place too after a promising start, having sat second after the prone section.
But it was clear early on, that Duestad had this competition by the scruff of its neck. She excelled both in kneeling and prone sections, holding a lead of 2.5 into the standing. This grew to 4.1 as they entered the standing shots, followed by Ibsen and Dubska.
The podium for the women's 50m rifle 3 positions finalWhile it increasingly looked like Duestad vs Ibsen, the battle was on for bronze. A 9.4 from Dubska opened the door as Janssen came within touching distance and Stefankova moved into third. However, Stefankova would have a low-scoring shot of her own - a 9.4 condemned her to fifth as Janssen and Dubska went level thanks to a superb 10.7 from the German. When it mattered, Dubska outscored Janssen to confirm the bronze medal.
Out front, Duestad had consecutive shots below 10, as the Dane slowly closed the gap. But this would not be a repeat of the European Championship. The Norwegian regained some of her cushion going into the final shot, holding a lead of 3.6. Determined to avoid a repeat of the 8.0 that saw her lose her lead in Chateauroux, she kept it together. A 9.5 would be enough to seal her fifth ISSF World Cup title.
Ibsen fell short of her second World Cup win, but would take her first individual silver, bringing her World Cup medal tally up to five. But for the 21-year-old Dubska, it was a moment of unprecedented elation. A previous best individual finish of 22nd in the 10m air rifle was completely obliterated. In her first final, the Czech had secured a podium.
Results and more information from the Ningbo ISSF World Cup can be found here.
Out front, Duestad had consecutive shots below 10, as the Dane slowly closed the gap. But this would not be a repeat of the European Championship. The Norwegian regained some of her cushion going into the final shot, holding a lead of 3.6. Determined to avoid a repeat of the 8.0 that saw her lose her lead in Chateauroux, she kept it together. A 9.5 would be enough to seal her fifth ISSF World Cup title.
Ibsen fell short of her second World Cup win, but would take her first individual silver, bringing her World Cup medal tally up to five. But for the 21-year-old Dubska, it was a moment of unprecedented elation. A previous best individual finish of 22nd in the 10m air rifle was completely obliterated. In her first final, the Czech had secured a podium.
Results and more information from the Ningbo ISSF World Cup can be found here.