Colorado Springs, CO -(Ammoland.com)- Matt Emmons’ trip to the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup for Rifle/Pistol in Changwon, South Korea was a successful one as today he picked up his second medal of this World Cup – a silver in Three-Position Rifle.
Emmons (Browns Mills, New Jersey), the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in this discipline, qualified for the Finals in second place with a score of 1178. In Finals, which was severely hampered by gusty wind conditions, Emmons led the match through the first two kneeling-position series, but a 7.4 on his third series moved him down to third place.
Through strong shooting in the prone series and the rest of the match, Emmons eventually finished in second place with a final score of 456.0. Hui Zicheng of China would win the gold medal and Han Jinseop of South Korea would win bronze.
On Saturday, Emmons won gold in Men’s Prone Rifle, in which he also secured an Olympic quota in the process. A quota is essentially the entry ticket necessary for a country to compete in Olympic competition in a particular discipline. Though quotas spots would normally go to the top-two finishers in Men’s Three-Position Rifle at this World Cup, Emmons would be ineligible to earn another quota as an athlete is only eligible to win one quota in any discipline for his/her country. The USA Shooting Team has now earned nine of the 30 Olympic quotas available, including two of the 10 available in rifle (Men’s Prone/Men’s Air Rifle). More information on selection procedures and quotas for 2015 World Cups and the 2016 Olympic Games can be found here.
See Emmons in action during the Finals of Men’s Three-Position Rifle below:
Also competing was George Norton (Salina, Kansas) of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit who finished in 31st with a score of 1162, and Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) who finished in 42nd place with a score of 1157. Dan Lowe (USAMU/Olympia, Washington) and Jean-Pierre Lucas (Dunlevy, Pennsylvania) also shot the match and obtained their Minimum Qualifying Score (MQS) necessary for Olympic consideration. To view all of the results of this World Cup, click here.
Men’s Three-Position Rifle was the final event of this World Cup with the U.S. team earning two medals (gold and silver), three Finals appearances and one Olympic quota overall. Other highlights of the event included Elizabeth Gratz (Sigel, Illinois) shooting a 581 in Women’s Three-Position Rifle to earn an MQS with a mark that was good enough to theoretically put her in the Finals. The event also saw the World Cup debut of 16-year-old Sarah Osborn (Hampton, Virginia), who shot a score of 413.1 to finish 36th out of 95 competitors.
Athlete, Finish |
Event |
Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J.) 2nd |
Men’s Three-Position Rifle |
George Norton (USAMU/Lenexa, Kansas) 31st |
|
Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, S.D.) 42nd |
|
Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J.) 1st |
Men’s Prone Rifle |
Eric Uptagrafft (USAMU/Phenix City, Ala.) 5th |
|
Michael McPhail (USAMU/Darlington, Wis.) 10th |
|
Bryant Wallizer (Little Orleans, Md.) 27th |
Men’s Air Rifle |
Tyler Rico (Tucson, Ariz.) 57th |
|
Daniel Lowe (Olympia, Wash.) 70th |
|
Amy Sowash (Richmond, Ky.) 14th |
Women’s Three-Position Rifle |
Amanda Furrer (Spokane, Wash.) 28th |
|
Hannah Black (Richmond, Va.) 59th |
|
Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind.) 23rd |
Women’s Air Rifle |
Sarah Osborn (Hampton, Va.) 36th |
|
Emily Quiner (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 74th |
|
Greg Markowski (USAMU/Columbus, Ga.) 25th |
Men’s Free Pistol |
James Henderson (USAMU/Midland, Ga.) 57th |
|
Keith Sanderson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 15th |
Rapid Fire Pistol |
Brad Balsley (USAMU/Uniontown, Pa.) 22nd |
|
Emil Milev (Temple Terrace, Fla.) 29th |
|
James Henderson (USAMU/Midland, Ga.) 26th |
Men’s 10m Air Pistol |
Jay Shi (Phoenix, Ariz.) 27th |
|
Greg Markowski (USAMU/Columbus, Ga.) 80th |
|
Camelia Moldovan (Albuquerque, N.M.) 70th |
Women’s Sport Pistol |
Up next for airgun athletes will be the 2015 Air Selection Match April 25-26 in Anniston, Alabama and the next World Cup for Rifle/Pistol athletes will be May 11-19 in Fort Benning, Georgia.
About USA Shooting
USA Shooting, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, was chartered by the United States Olympic Committee as the National Governing Body for the sport of shooting in April 1995. USA Shooting’s mission is to prepare American athletes to win Olympic medals, promote the shooting sports throughout the U.S. and govern the conduct of international shooting in the country.
Check us out on the web at www.USAShooting.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/USAShooting.
About ELEY
ELEY is a Proud Sponsor of the USA Shooting Rifle and Pistol Teams: ELEY Limited, manufacturer of the world’s most consistently accurate rimfire ammunition, has been the Official Sponsor and Official Supplier of .22 rimfire ammunition of the USA Shooting rifle and pistol teams since 2000.
For more information on ELEY and their products, please visit www.Eley.co.uk/en.