WDSC 2016: Russian shooter pulls out victory in women’s 10m air pistol

The first final of the third competition day at the inaugural World Deaf Shooting Championships came to a dramatic finish. The tournament takes place at the Dynamo Sports Complex in Mirny Township.

The outcome of the women’s 10m air pistol event was determined literally in the final round. World record holder Lana SKELEDZIJA (CRO) was the favourite in the event. In the qualification, she improved the world record, and she was also dominating the final until the final round. However, due to a bad shot she dropped the leadership to two Russian shooters, Evdokia KATORGINA and Valeria KLADOVIKOVA, who eventually ended up on the first and second places of the podium. As a result, the Croatian athlete had to settle for bronze (169.4), Evdokia KATORGINA topped the podium with the new world record (191.4), Valeria KLADOVIKOVA took silver (186.6).

After the nail-biting victory, Evdokia Katorgina shared her feelings and admitted that home walls helped her to win gold. “I was determined to win; I’ve been training hard and I’m happy that I won,” the champion said. Speaking of the dramatic outcome of the tournament, the Russian athlete said: “At first I was nervous, stressed out, but I recovered self-possession and gave it all. It’s great that eventually everything turned out well.”

“The domestic atmosphere helped me; I’m very pleased that the championships are held in our country, in Russia. Kazan is a wonderful city; the event management is great. Thanks to all of you,” the champion said. According to her, there’s a huge competition among shooters and she’ll be training hard to perform well at the Deaflympics in Turkey.

For her part, Lana Skeledzija admitted that she got upset when she missed out on gold in the final round. “I was leading and hoping to win but I failed the final shot. But the main thing is that I made it to the top three and claimed medal. I want to thank my entire team; it’s our common success,” she said.

Sharing her impression of the tournament, Lana stated: “You have a very beautiful and interesting city. The shooting range is world-class; the organisers did a great job.” The Deaflympic medallist also expressed hope that world deaf shooting championships become traditional. “I want that world deaf shooting championships become regular; I’m looking forward to the next edition and will definitely go to compete there,” the athlete concluded.