Elaheh Ahmadi continues impressive form to claim women's 10 metres air rifle gold at ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals

Elaheh Ahmadi backed up her victory at the Gabala World Cup by winning gold at the World Cup Finals ©ISSF

Iran’s Elaheh Ahmadi continued her excellent recent form to claim gold in the women’s 10 metres air rifle competition at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich, Germany.

Ahmadi had secured gold at the Gabala World Cup in Azerbaijan during August and she led from the second round of the competition, but was forced to fend off the challenge of India’s Apurvi Chandela.

The two shooters proved to be the most accurate throughout the elimination phase of the event and heading into the final round Ahmadi held a narrow 0.9 point advantage over her rival, which she was able to maintain to end on a winning score of 207.5.

Serbia’s Andrea Arsovic won a shoot-off against Croatian teenager Valentina Gustin to secure bronze, after ending the tournament on 186.4 points.

Arsovic’s compatriot Zorana Arunovic was able to better her performance in the women’s 10m air pistol event after overhauling Greece’s Anna Korakaki in the final round of the competition.

Korakaki had earned a 0.6 point lead but would be forced to settle for bronze after scoring 9.4 and 8.4 on the last two targets to finish on 198.3, while Arunovic scored 9.0 and 9.7 to take gold by a narrow margin, as the Serbian ended on 198.5 points.

Russia’s Liubov Yaskevich ensured there would not be a second Serbian shooter on the podium as she ended the competition with a total score of 178.9, which prevented Bobana Velickovic from claiming bronze.

Four gold medals were awarded on the penultimate day of competition ©ISSF

In the men's event Vladimir Isakov held his nerve in the final rounds to take the lead away from Portugal's Joao Costa and then build on his advantage to claim gold.

Costa still had a chance of taking the title as he headed into the final round 0.9 points behind but could only score 8.7 and 8.9 with his final two shots, which allowed Isakov a comfortable winning margin of 4.2 points after he finished on 200.7.

South Korea's Cheongyong Kim claimed bronze after being eliminated in third on 177.5, while Oleh Omelchuk finished outside the medals after finishing fourth on 158.5.

Chinese success also continued in Munich as Haoran Yang secured the country’s third title at this year’s World Cup Finals, as he won the men’s 10m air rifle competition.

Yang proved to be extremely consistent throughout the duration of the final, only failing to score over 10 points on one occasion, which helped him to a total of 207.0 points.

Ukraine’s Oleh Tsarkov was Yang’s closest rival and finished 0.4 points behind to take silver, while Milutin Stefanovic earned another Serbian medal after being eliminated in third on 184.6 points.