NEW DELHI, Jul 4: Italian Style defeated Austrian Rocks 10-8 in a thrilling contest on the opening day of the world’s first Online Shooting League.
In the 10m air rife event, the two teams were tied on the first and the sixth rounds.
Tokyo Olympics quota holder Marco Suppini of Italy registered two 10.9s and two 10.8s in the match which went on for 20 shots.
There three quota holders in the contest were Suppini, Lorenzo Bacci (Italy) and Martin Strempfl of Austria.
“It could not have been a better start to the league with the two teams engaged in a neck to neck fight till the very end,” said Shimon Sharif, the brain behind the initiative.
Suppini, who is ranked 19th in the world, secured an Olympic quota at the 2019 Munich World Cup with a personal best of 631.3 and followed that with 163.7 in the final of the men’s 10m air rifle.
Currently ranked 36th in the world, Bacci earned the Olympic quota at last year’s European Championship in Bologna, Italy after finishing fifth in men’s 50m rifle three positions with a score of 423.3 (1177).
Strempfl bagged the quota at last year’s World Cup in New Delhi with a score of 205.6 (629.2) in one of his best performances in an international competition.
As per the event’s format, each team comprises three rifle shooters who shoot in every round under the ‘Race To 10’ format. A point is awarded to the team which has a higher total of three shots. The team that reaches 10 points first win the match.
The six teams have been divided into two groups and the top two from each pool will make the semifinals on July 18 and 19.
The final is slated for July 26 and will be preceded by the third-place match, a day earlier. (PTI)
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