2016 Olympian Virginia Thrasher opened the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup stop in Munich with a strong showing in the 10m air rifle. Thrasher was strong in three of her four series in the qualifying round to post an overall 419.3, good enough for fourth place despite her 102.2 in the second series being the worst series by anyone in the top 19. The other two Americans competing were Hanna Carr, who finished 47th with a 413.8, and Rachel Garner, who finished 86th with a 410.1. Thrasher was in fourth after the first stage of the final but faltered on the second shot of the second stage with a 9.7 that left her in a precarious position and she ended up being the second of the eight finalists to be eliminated. In the men’s event William Shaner finished 86th and Jacob Buchanan finished 103rd, both well behind the eight finalists.
In the 25m women’s pistol 2016 Olympian Enkelejda Shehu shot a 284 in the precision portion of qualifying and is in 51st going into tomorrow’s rapid fire portion. Shehu would need to get into the top eight (she currently trails eighth by eight points) to qualify for the final that is also contested tomorrow. In the men’s 50m pistol 2016 Olympians Will Brown and Jay Shi both were among the best in the elimination relays as Shi was fifth in his half with a 561 while Brown was fourth in his with a 566. Nickolaus Mowrer finished 20th in his half with a 551. All three will compete in the qualification round on Sunday that will narrow the field to eight for the final later in the day.
Beginning on Sunday is the men’s 50m rifle prone and the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol. The US has a star studded lineup in the rifle event with 2016 Olympians David Higgins and Michael McPhail (fourth in Bangkok) along side Matthew Emmons (top seven in both Bangkok and Rio). The only thing hapening in the rifle event on Sunday will be an elimination round. In the pistol event 2016 Olympian Emil Milev is one of two Americans in the field as they will have the first half of their qualification round.
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