Pistol jam misfortune for Chapman in Rapid Fire Pistol

There was no joy for Australia’s shooters on day eight of the Rio Olympics. David Chapman finished 25th in the men’s Rapid Fire Pistol event while Keith Ferguson ended up 10th in the men’s Skeet with Paul Adams following him home in 19th spot.

It was a tale of misfortune for Chapman, who had his pistol jam during the closing series which meant that he finished with a score of 76, whereas he had averaged in the low 90s during the earlier rounds. “It’s just one of those things that can happen in Rapid Fire but it’s just a shame it happened during the Olympic Games,” the three-time Olympian said.

Germany’s Christian Reitz led from go to whoa to win gold in the Rapid Fire Pistol. His score of 35 equalled an Olympic record. Reitz, 29, had previously collected a bronze in Beijing in 2008. Jean Qunquampoix, of France, took silver, while China’s Yuehong Li was happy with bronze. The result confirmed Germany’s third shooting gold of the Games after Henri Junghaenal had triumphed in the 50m Rifle Prone event and Barbara Engleder came out on top in the 50m Rifle 3 Position. Monika Karsch had also won silver in the women’s 25m Pistol completion.

As Adams and Ferguson bowed out in the Skeet, it was Italy’s Gabriel Rossetti who garnered gold. He edged out Swede Marcus Svensson. The pair zapped all their first 12 shots to turn the competition into a sudden-death shoot-off. Rossetti hit all four of his shots but Svensson failed with his final attempt to decide the outcome. “I am very happy with this silver, the competition was really great,” Svensson told Reuters.

Kuwaiti shooter Abdullah Al-Rashidi, lining up as an independent, walked away with bronze after overcoming Ukraine’s Mikola Milchev.

The final shooting event for the Olympics will be contested tonight, with SSAA member Will Godward and Dane Sampson representing Australia in the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Position.

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