Eller Claims Silver, Szarenski Takes Bronze

[USA Shooting]

Eller Claims Silver, Szarenski Takes Bronze at “Good Luck Beijing” ISSF World Cup



BEIJING, China (April 15, 2008) – The U.S. Shooting team earned two more medals today at the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 ISSF World Cup, which is the test event for the 2008 Olympic Games. Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas) captured the silver medal in Men’s Double Trap, while Daryl Szarenski (Saginaw, Mich.) claimed the bronze in the Men’s 50m Pistol event.


The Men’s Double Trap final was conducted under a cascade of catkins, brought by the slight wind blowing on the range, which gave the unusual impression of snow fall. Two-time Olympian and last year’s World Cup Final Champion Eller did not seemed phased by the conditions, shooting 48 targets in the final, for a total of 188 targets, earning him the silver medal.



Of the conditions on the field, Eller said he felt like he was a lot more worried between rounds about possibly breathing the catkins in, but once he was looking down the barrel of the gun in the final, all he concentrated on was the target.



“This is one of the best ranges I have ever seen. I got second place here and it’s great,” said Eller. “I have had a lot of practice and I will try my best to get the gold at the Games”



Eller will represent the U.S. in Men’s Double Trap at the Beijing Olympic Games this August, after finishing in first place at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Shooting (Shotgun) in March. Eller is also a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) out of Ft. Benning, Ga.



Vasily Mosin of Russia won the gold in the Double Trap competition with total score of 191 targets. The bronze medal was earned through a shoot-off between the 2000 Olympic Champion Richards Faulds of Great Britain and Saif Alshamsy of United Arab Emirates after being tied with 185 targets. Faulds, the first to shoot, missed his second target and Alshamsy claimed the bronze.


Mikhail Leybo of Russia finished in fifth place with 183 targets, while Eller’s USAMU teammate Josh Richmond (Hillsgrove, Pa.) took sixth place with a total of 181 targets.


In the Men’s 50m Pistol event, two-time Olympian and USAMU member Daryl Szarenski (Saginaw, Mich.) finished the Qualifying Round in second place with a score of 570, only one point behind the leader Lin Zhongzai of China, who was the 2007 World Cup USA and World Cup Final Champion. Zhongzai went on to win today’s 50M Pistol Men’s event with a final score of 667.2 points (571 + 96.2).



An intense struggle for the silver medal, Szarenski had to battle against Rashid Yunusmetov of Kazakhstan. Szarenski held second place until the last shot, when he scored 8.7 to Yunusmetov’s score of 10.2. Yunusmetov earned the silver with a total score of 666.0 (565 + 101.0) and Szarenski claimed the bronze with 663.4 points (570 + 93.4).



“I was very happy with my qualifying score of 570 and followed my shot plan throughout the final,” said Szarenski. “Only once did I let the crowd reaction cause me to be distracted with a rough shot.”



The "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 ISSF World Cup is being held at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall and Beijing Shooting Range Clay-Target Field (CTF). Competition continues Wednesday with the Women’s 25m Pistol final and the event will conclude on the 20th.

This event is the only shooting competition where athletes will be able to test their shooting skills at the new Olympic shooting venues prior to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The Beijing Games will be held August 8–24, with the shooting portion of the competition taking place August 9-17.

More than 1200 shooters from 92 countries are competing in the Beijing World Cup, which makes this competition the largest shooting event ever in China. Thirty-five Olympians and Olympic hopefuls from the U.S. will be competing in 15 different men’s and women’s events during this nine day competition.

For complete results from all of the events at the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 ISSF World Cup, please visit www.issf.tv.