The third ISSF World Cup Shotgun event of 2016 begins Friday in San Marino. Though both men’s and women’s trap begin on Friday the US does not have any entrants in the men’s event. The men’s trap is a weak event for the US and the only shotgun event where they did not qualify anyone for the Olympics. In the women’s trap event the US will have newly locked in 2016 Olympian Corey Cogdell competing. Cogdell has yet to make the six-woman final but was top 12 in both Nicosia and Rio. The entire women’s trap event (three rounds of shooting in qualifying and then the final) will take place on Friday.

Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Munich Recap

The US now has Matthew Emmons to thank for both of their medals at the ISSF World Cup event in Munich. The 2016 Olympian won the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions for the second time this year with a dominating world record performance. Emmons qualified for the final by posting the top score in qualifying with an 1184, including a one-away-from-perfect prone score. Emmons again excelled in the prone shooting in the final as he took a 1.2 point lead to the standing rounds. With other shooters falling off the pace Emmons was in first by 3.3 when the cut to six occurred. Though no one ever got any closer Emmons continued his strong showing and finished strong with a final world record 464.1, breaking the old mark of 463.7 by Zicheng Hui. Emmons seems a good bet to medal in Rio as he has now finished in the top two in all three World Cup events so far this year and won the event twice. Jacob Buchanan finished 67th in qualifying with a 1154.

Finally in the women’s 10m air pistol Lydia Paterson was the top American and had her best finish of the year in 31st but her 380 was still five points off the top eight. Courtney Anthony finished 71st with a 373 and Enkelejda Shehaj Bekurti was 83rd with a 369.

The next ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup event will be in Baku, Azerbaijan from June 20th to the 29th. There is a Shotgun World Cup event starting next Wednesday in San Marino.

Previous ISSF World Cup Munich Coverage:
Preview
Saturday Update
Sunday Update
Monday Update
Tuesday Update

In the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions 2016 Olympian Virginia Thrasher nearly grabbed the second American medal of Munich but just missed out on it finishing fourth. Thrasher was into the final narrowly, qualifying in the final of the eight spots with a 583. She won a center 10 tiebreaker with 22 compared to 18 for Eva Roesken of Germany in ninth place. In the final Thrasher wasn’t the greatest in her kneeling and prone shots and was in sixth heading to the elimination standing shots. She was already 4.4 points behind third place so the pressure was on to try and make up ground quickly. She did move up into fourth at the cut to sixth but was still 2.6 points behind third. Needing some major help to finish any higher she got some, but still would have needed some nearly perfect shots and ended up in fourth. It was the second fourth place finish by an American this year and the young Thrasher is definitely a contender in Rio. Rachel Garner had a better qualifying round shoot than her elimination round as she scored a 578 and finished 34th. Hanna Carr on the other hand went backwards and shot a 570 and finished 64th.

In the men’s 10m air pistol competition Will Brown and Jay Shi both were not as close to the top eight finalists as they had hoped to be. Brown was the closer of the two with a 580 but finished four points behind the finalists in 20th. Shi finished in 35th and scored a 577. Nickolaus Mowrer had a shot at being the top American but after being in the 96-98 range in the first five series he shot a 91 to wrap things up with a 576, 41st best.

In the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions 2016 Olympian Matthew Emmons was one of the best of the day scoring an 1183, second best in his relay and overall. Jacob Buchanan also advanced after shooting a 1155 and finishing 31st in his relay. William Shaner was eliminated after finishing 42nd with an 1143 in his relay. Wednesday will be the qualifying round and final for the top eight.

The final event to begin in Munich will be the women’s 10m air pistol.

Previous ISSF World Cup Munich Coverage:
Preview
Saturday Update
Sunday Update
Monday Update

The US won their first medal of Munich on Monday and it wasn’t even from an Olympian in the event. The medal cam in the men’s 50m rifle prone thanks to the non-Olympian (at least in this event) Matthew Emmons. In the qualification round Emmons scored a 631.8, second best of the day, to qualify for the final. 2016 Olympian Michael McPhail nearly made it two in the final eight from the US with a 626.7, but that left him 13th and 0.7 behind the eighth place finisher. Emmons was fourth in the first stage of the final but moved into third after the fourth round of the second stage. Emmons had a lot of work to do to move into the top two and was eventually eliminated in third place, grabbing the bronze. The medal was the first by the US in the event in 2016 though Emmons made it fourth finalists and five top ten finishers.

In the 25m rapid fire pistol event 2016 Olympian Emil Milev improved on his 288 from the first day but only by a single point and moved up from 22nd to 20th, still finishing five points behind the top six final qualifiers with a 577. Alexander Chichkov also improved his score by a single point but jumped to 31st with a 571 total.

In the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions 2016 Olympian Virginia Thrasher was the best of the three Americans as all three qualified for the qualifying round. Thrasher shot a 577 to finish 12th in her relay. Not far behind her was fellow American Hanna Carr who shot a 574 and was 26th. Cutting it closest on qualification was Rachel Garner who scored a 571 and was second in the other elimination relay. Both Carr and Garner are participating in their first World Cup event of the year. On Tuesday the three Americans will compete in qualifying and attempt to reach the final which will be held later in the day.

Starting Tuesday, and wrapping up later in the day, will be the men’s 10m air pistol competition. Will Brown headlines the US athletes in the field. Brown has been fantastic at the world level so far in 2016 with a silver in Bangkok and a fifth place finish in Rio.

Also beginning will be the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions. 2016 Olympian Emmons, already with the bronze here in 50m prone, is a favorite to medal after a gold in Bangkok and a silver in Rio. There will only be a elimination relay on Tuesday.

Previous ISSF World Cup Munich Coverage:
Preview
Saturday Update
Sunday Update

No Americans advanced to the finals on Sunday but the best finish of the day for the US came in the men’s 50m pistol where 2016 Olympian Will Brown came close to qualifying for the final posting a 559, one off the final qualifier. Brown also would not have won the center 10’s tiebreaker even if had scored one point higher and finished 16th. It’s the third straight top 16 finish this year for Brown who will certainly be in contention to medal in Rio if he has a strong event. 2016 Olympian Jay Shi was 31st with a 554. His middle four series were very strong but he started with an 89 and ended with an 88 which doomed his chances. Nickolaus Mowrer finished 42nd with a 547.

In the 25m women’s pistol 2016 Olympian Enkelejda Shehu shot a 286 in the rapid fire portion to finish with a combined 570, 12 behind the last final qualifier and in 47th place. Shehu was 45th in Rio and would need to improve a lot on those performances to contend in the Olympics.

In the 25m rapid fire pistol event 2016 Olympian Emil Milev was the top American on Sunday in the first half of the qualification round but his 288 was only good enough for 22nd and he faces a four point deficit on the top eight going into the second day. Alexander Chichkov is in 38th after shooting a 285. Qualification warps up tomorrow with the finals later in the day.

Beginning on Monday will be the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions Virginia Thrasher is a 2016 Olympian in the event and finished tenth in Rio when she competed in the event earlier in the year. There will only be an elimination round on Sunday to narrow the field to 70 shooters for Monday’s qualifying round.

Previous ISSF World Cup Munich Coverage:
Preview
Saturday Update

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.

Previous ISSF World Cup Munich Coverage:
Preview

The third ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup stop of 2016 starts Saturday in Munich, Germany. Four events will begin on the opening day with medals awarded in the 10m air rifle for both men and women. The US did not have medalists in either of those events in the first two stops and the only one of the two men and three women competing on Saturday who has taken part in the 2016 World Cup so far is 2016 Olympian Virginia Thrasher. The men will have six series, the women four, with the top eight totals advancing to the quarterfinals.

Also starting on Saturday is the 25m women’s pistol where 2016 Olympian Enkelejda Shehu will be competing and the men’s 50m pistol where two 2016 Olympians, Will Brown and Jay Shi, are competing. Shi finished seventh in the event in Rio in the World Cup earlier this year. The 25m pistol competition features the first of two halves of qualifying scores while the 50m pistol competition will be elimination rounds.

Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Rio de Janeiro Recap

On the final day of the ISSF World Cup event in Rio de Janeiro the Americans added one more medal though it wasn’t the one Matthew Emmons was hoping for. Emmons had won the gold in the 50m 3-position rifle in Bangkok and was close to winning another. Instead he was topped in the final by Zicheng Hui of China who set a new world record with a 463.7 smashing the old mark of 462.5 while Emmons had only a 461.6. Emmons trailed from the start of the final but got within 0.8 points before Hui pulled away on the final shot. Dempster Christenson finished 43rd after shooting an 1153 in qualifying (for reference an 1172 was the final qualifying mark and Emmons shot an 1182).

Finally in the men’s skeet qualifying Vincent Hancock had a strong Sunday shooting 23/25 and was able to hang on to his top six spot finishing third with a 122. Frank Thompson went 25/23 and Hayden Stewart went 24/23. As I speculated on Saturday they both needed 49’s to tie for the final qualifying spot. Instead Thompson wound up ninth and Stewart 13th.

In the final Hancock missed on his fourth target and with the pressure on missed one more on target #12 to end up with 14. That put him a three-way tie for third and in the resulting shoot-off he missed first (on the fourth shot) and was eliminated finishing fifth.

Having wrapped up in Rio the shotgun athletes will have their sights set on the final step in the Olympic Trials May 16th through the 25th in Tillar, Arkansas. The next ISSF World Cup events are split for the shotgun athletes and the rifle/pistol athletes. The rifle/pistol event is May 19th through the 26th in Munich while the shotgun athletes will compete in San Marino from June 1st through the 11th.

Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Day 5 Update
Day 6 Update
Day 7 Update
Day 8 Update
Day 9 Update

The US has been lacking medals in this ISSF World Cup event with only one going into Saturday’s action. That number wouldn’t last long as the US won more medals on Saturday than they had in all the previous events combined.

In the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol Keith Sanderson proved the better of the two Americans in qualifying finishing with a 582 and advancing on inner 10s to reach the final. Emil Milev was a bit worse on the day and ended up with only 578 and eliminated in 18th place. Sanderson had the second lowest score of the final six after the first stage of the final but was strong to start the second stage and survived past three of those who were in front of him to end up with the silver medal.

It’s no surprise that the other US medal came in the women’s skeet where Amber English, Morgan Craft, and Kimberly Rhode were all in qualifying position after the first two rounds of shooting. Rhode shot a 25 and English a 24 to advance to the final while Craft’s 22 left her a point short of the top six and eliminated in 10th place. Craft had been the winner in the first World Cup event in Nicosia. Rhode had the top score in the semifinals at 14 to advance to the gold medal match while Craft finished in a 3-way tie with 13 and finished second in the shoot-off to end up in the bronze medal match. In the bronze medal match Craft lost to China’s Min Lu 13-12 and missed out on the medal opportunity. With gold on the line both Rhode and her opponent, Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit of Thailand had strong scores of 15 of a possible 16. The shoot-off would take a little while but eventually Jiewchaloemmit outlasted Rhode 8-7 and Rhode had to settle for the silver medal.

Men’s skeet qualifying continued on Friday with the third round of shooting. Vincent Hancock went perfect on Saturday and is now in a 3-way tie at the top with 74 points. Hayden Stewart and Frank Thompson each went for 24 and are part of the massive group from fourth to 17th with 72 points. They have a great chance to make the final but it will take really good scores on Sunday, probably 49 or a perfect 50. The final will be Sunday after the final two rounds of qualifying.

Finally in the 50m men’s 3 position rifle Matthew Emmons as expected was easily through the elimination round into the qualifying while Dempster Christenson and George Norton both had to sweat it out. Christenson did enough to move on finishing with an 1155 in his relay in 20th place. Norton was close, oh so close, but his 1149 only left him in a tie for the final qualifying spot and Jinseop Han of Korea had more inner 10’s (54 to 43) to advance. Christenson and Emmons will compete in qualifying and the final (should they advance to it) on Sunday as the entire competition in Rio wraps up.

Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Day 5 Update
Day 6 Update
Day 7 Update
Day 8 Update

Virginia Thrasher couldn’t keep the magic going on the second day of the 50m 3 position rifle competition. She shot a very good score, 583, but missed out on the finals by a single point and finished tenth. Also missing out on the final was Sarah Scherer who finished 13th and shot a 582. Sarah Beard on the other hand did reach the final after shooting a 588. Notably in the qualifying round Croatia’s Snjezana Pejcic shot a world record 594, breaking the old record of 592. In the final Beard shot a 302.5 in the first two stages which left her seventh going into the standing round. That is where Beard would end up after getting eliminated early.

In the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol the two Americans shot identical scores and both are in contention to reach the finals. Emil Milev and Keith Sanderson both shot a 290 and are sitting in 10th and 11th place going into the second day of qualifying on Saturday. The finals are on Saturday as well.

Men’s skeet qualifying began Friday as well with the first two rounds of shooting. Vincent Hancock was the best of the three Americans as he hit on 49 of his 50 shots and is in a three-way tie for second. Hayden Stewart and Frank Thompson each hit 48 and are in a large group tied for fifth. All three can qualify for the Sunday finals with a strong Saturday.

In women’s skeet Amber English, Morgan Craft, and Kimberly Rhode are in all in qualifying position after the first two rounds of shooting, one more to go on Saturday morning before the finals later the in the day. All three hit 47 between their first two rounds and are second to fifth in the standings.

Saturday also will be the start of the 50m men’s 3 position rifle competition as the field is narrowed through an elimination round. Matthew Emmons, Dempster Christenson, and George Norton will be competing for the US. Only Emmons has competed in this event in the World Cup this year and he won the event in Bangkok.

Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Day 5 Update
Day 6 Update
Day 7 Update