Matthew Emmons and Michael McPhail both had good rounds in the qualifying for the 50m prone rifle. Emmons was just slightly better. He scored a 625.9 to qualify in fifth and while McPhail was just 1.3 points back that was too much as McPhail finished in a tie for eighth and lost the tiebreaker to miss out on the final. McPhail should have been in the final but a 102.9 on the final series, opened the door and he was passed. In the final Emmons got off to a great start with the third best opening stage score. After two more rounds of shooting the scores were tight with second through sixth all within the range of 103.3 to 103.9. That meant the margin for error was tiny and when Emmons scored a 20.1 it wasn’t enough as he was eliminated by a tenth of a point to the shooter who would go to take the bronze.

Over in the women’s 50m rifle 3 position Virginia Thrasher continued to show that incredible form that may make her a medal contender in Rio out of nowhere. Thrasher had the second best score in the eliminator round and along with Sarah Scherer and Sarah Beard all easily advanced to the qualifying round. Is it possible the US could have three finalists in this event? You wouldn’t rule it out. The qualification and finals will be on Friday.

Also on Friday the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol will begin with two Americans, Emil Milev and Keith Sanderson, competing. Both are 2016 Olympians and Sanderson was 13th in Bangkok while Milev is appearing in his first world cup event of the year. Stage one of qualifying is on Friday with the rest of the competition on Saturday.

Men’s skeet begins Friday with the first day of qualifying as Vincent Hancock, Hayden Stewart, and Frank Thompson compete for the US. Hancock is already qualified for the Olympics in this event and placed fourth in the opening World Cup event in Nicosia.

The first day of qualifying will also take place for women’s skeet with Amber English, Morgan Craft, and Kimberly Rhode competing for the US. Craft will be in the Olympics and won the opening event in Nicosia while Rhode was sixth in that competition.

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

Matthew Emmons and Michael McPhail both advanced from the elimination round of the prone 50m rifle competition easily by finishing in the top 56. David Higgins on the other hand did not shooting just a 614.3 and finishing 32nd in his relay. It was the first time this year shooting in the World Cup and he’ll need to improve some more as he heads for the Olympics. Emmons and McPhail will finish the event on Thursday with the qualification round and the final.

In the women’s 25m pistol Enkelejda Shehaj Bekurti, also competing in her first World Cup event of the year, scored a 285 in the precision round and a 280 in the rapid fire round to score a 565 and finish 45th, 17 points behind the final qualifying spot.

Thursday along with the end of the men’s 50m prone rifle the women’s 50m rifle 3 position event will have their elimination round. Competing for the US will be Sarah Scherer, Virginia Thrasher, and Sarah Beard. Both Beard and Scherer made the final in Bangkok while Thrasher is making her first World Cup appearance this year. If she can continue the incredible shooting that won her an Olympic spot in this event she could be a threat to make the final as well.

Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Day 5 Update

The US finally won their first medal of the ISSF World Cup competition in Rio on Tuesday and it was at the hands of an Olympian who will be competing there in four months. Walton Eller posted a joint third best qualifying score of 137 to reach the finals. In the semifinal he was a bit off at 25, tied for his worst round of the day, but won a shoot-off to get into the bronze medal match. There he beat Antonino Barilla of Italy 28-23 to win the medal. The 28 was the best score of anyone in the finals. Joshua Richmond nearly made it two Americans in the finals as he scored a 136 and tied for sixth. He lost the qualification shoot-off 11-10 to Andreas Loew of Germany who went on to lose the shoot-off Eller won to get into the bronze medal match. Derek Haldeman gave the US three in the top 25 with a 25th place finish .

The 50m men’s pistol event had two Americans thick in the race for the finals. Will Brown came up just short with a 557, two points back of the 559 of the final qualifier, and finished 12th. Brown did shoot a 98 in series 4 which was tied for the second best series of the day. Jay Shi did make the finals with a 560 after a strong 96 in series 6 put him into the top eight. Nickolaus Mowrer finished 44th with a 544. In the final Shi had one of the lower first stage scores at 51.6 (seventh of eight) and while he held off one opponent he was knocked out after two rounds and finished seventh.

With no events carrying over to Wednesday competition begins in the 50m prone rifle as the field is narrowed in an elimination round which all three Americans will be expected to survive. Matthew Emmons, David Higgins, and Michael McPhail will be competing. Both Higgins and McPhail are 2016 Olympians in this event. McPhail was fourth in Bangkok while Emmons was seventh. The entire women’s 25m pistol event will be held as well with Enkelejda Shehaj Bekurti competing for the US in the event where she will be an Olympian.

None of the US men in the 10m air rifle were able to advance on Monday as qualifying for the finals took place. Dempster Christenson,was the top American after scoring a 623.1 and finishing 26th. Christenson went as high as a 105.7 but couldn’t top 104.4 in the other four series and was 3.6 behind the final qualifier. Garrett Spurgeon was the next American in 40th while Ivan Roe couldn’t follow up on his top-16 finish in Bangkok and was 50th.

The 50m men’s pistol event also got underway but with an elimination round to trim the field to 56 all that was at stake it was no problem for Will Brown, Nickolaus Mowrer, and Jay Shi as all advanced easily. Shi was the most impressive with a 560 that was the seventh highest score of the day. All three will compete in the qualifying round on Tuesday and the finals will be held as well that afternoon.

Also on Tuesday will be the men’s double trap competition. Walton Eller, Derek Haldeman, and Joshua Richmond will compete for the US. Eller, a 2016 Olympian in this event, was in the field in Nicosia and finished 13th.

Brian Burrows was in 43rd after three rounds in the men’s trap qualifying and five points back of a tie for the qualifying score. He probably needed a perfect final day to get back into contention and he wasn’t far from it.
A 25 in the first round of Sunday gave him a chance to dream but it turned out even two perfect rounds would have left him a point out and he ended up shooting a 23 and finishing 24th. It was a good day as well for Casey Wallace who shot 23, 24 and wound up 36th and Seth Iman who jumped up seven spots to 57th after a 24, 24. All of the Americans posted their best score on Sunday.

Sunday also featured the women’s 10m air pistol competition. Enkelejda Shehaj Bekurti came the closest to reaching the finals but bookended 93s in the first and last series left her at 378 and five points out of the final spot in 26th. Lydia Paterson was 38th with Courtney Anthony shooting a 97 in series two but 90s to open and close left her in 50th.

Monday brings the start of the 50m men’s pistol event featuring Will Brown, Nickolaus Mowrer, and 2016 Olympian Jay Shi. All three competed in Bangkok with Brown and Shi finishing 12th and 13th. The entire men’s 10m air rifle will be held as well with Dempster Christenson, Ivan Roe, and Garrett Spurgeon competing for the US. Roe competed for the US in Bangkok and finished 16th.

In the women’s trap event Ashley Carroll and Corey Cogdell just missed out on a chance at the finals. Both shot a 22 in the third qualifying round and missed a tied for the final spot in the semifinals by a point. Carroll finished ninth while Cogdell ended up 12th. Janessa Jo Beaman shot a 22 as well, her best round of the event, and finished 24th. On the men’s side Brian Burrows dropped to 43rd after a 21 while Casey Wallace rose to 50th and Seth Iman dropped to 64th. Two more qualifying rounds will be shot on Sunday but it seems the Americans are too far back to get into the finals.

In the women’s 10m air rifle Sarah Beard came the closest to making the finals after a 417.2 but she missed out by 0.3 points, due to a 103 in the first series, the lowest score in any of the four series by anyone in the top 13. Virginia Thrasher ended up in 28th with Sarah Scherer in 32nd.

Will Brown reached the finals of the men’s 10m air pistol with a 580, tied for seventh. Brown won the inner tens tiebreaker over two other shooters to grab one of the finals spots. Jay Shi had a 575 in 24th and Nickolaus Mowrer was in 41st. In the finals Brown was fourth after the first stage and managed to stay alive until finishing fifth.

Sunday will feature the final two qualifying rounds and the finals of the men’s trap as well as the entire women’s 10m air pistol competition.  Courtney Anthony, Lydia Paterson, and Enkelejda Shehaj Bekurti will compete for the US. None of them competed in the first stop in Bangkok.

On the first day of competition at the ISSF World Cup even in Rio De Janeiro the top performer was Ashley Carroll in the women’s trap event. Carrol posted a 44, tied for 6th best, and is seventh on the tiebreaker of her last round (a 23). She has a really good chance to qualify for the finals with a strong third round on Saturday. Corey Cogdell is in great shape as well as she also posted a 44 but her final round of 20 left her in 13th.  Janessa Jo Beaman, was slightly off the pace at 38. Saturday the women will wrap up their qualification with their final round in the morning before having the finals in the afternoon.

On the men’s side Brian Burrows was the top American in 32nd with a 45 but this leaves him three behind the final qualifying spots. Casey Wallace scored a 42 to place 54th while Seth Iman had a 39 and is in 60th. The third and fourth qualifying rounds for the men will be on Saturday.

Also on Saturday the men’s 10m air pistol and the women’s 10m air rifle will be held in their entirety. Will Brown, Nickolaus Mowrer, and Jay Sih will be competing in the air pistol. Brown was the best of the three in Bangkok where he finished second. In the air rifle Sarah Beard, Sarah Scherer. and Virginia Thrasher will represent the US. Beard and Scherer were in the field in Bangkok where Scherer finished eighth.

Ten days of shooting competition begins on Friday at the ISSF World Cup in Rio De Janeiro in the second of five tour stops. The only competition on Friday will be the first day for the men’s and women’s trap competitions. The US has 35 athletes in the overall competition and three of those are competing in the men’s trap event. Brian Burrows, Seth Inman, and Casey Wallace will be all making their first appearance of the year in the trap competition.

On the women’s side Janessa Jo Beaman, Ashley Carroll, and Corey Cogdell will be competing. All three took part in the first competition in Nicosia with Cogdell the only one breaking into the top 25 with an eighth place finish.