Reigning Olympic champion Ginny Thrasher and Olympian Lucas Kozeniesky of USA won gold medals at the ongoing Hungarian Open being held in Budapest, Hungary.
Participating in an international competition after a long gap — of nine months due the ongoing pandemic — the two Americans were bang on target as they outgunned a very strong field of shooters.
The 23-year-old Ginny had a shaky start in the finals and was in the danger zone after the 12th and the 14th shot but with a perfect 10.9 in the next one and then nothing less than a 10.5 in the remaining shots helped her seal the gold with a margin of 0.5 points.
It an American double win in Budapest!ƒç║ƒç©ƒÑçƒç¡ƒç║ I had a gritty finals performance to finish today strong! ƒÆ¬ƒÅ╗ I feel a little rusty after 9 months with no competitions, but IÔÇÖm so grateful weÔÇÖre backƒÄ» pic.twitter.com/5RmTXgxjSu
— Ginny Thrasher (@GinnyThrasher) November 21, 2020
The silver was won by Hungary’s Eszter Denes while her compatriot Eszter Meszaros took the bronze.
It was a nail biting finish in the men’s final as Lucas and Istvan Peni of Hungary tied twice after the 20th and 22nd shots and were separated by a mere 0.1 point in favour of Istvan before the last shot but in the end it was Lucas who bagged the gold with a margin of 0.4 point.
Hungary’s Peter Somogyl took the bronze.
In the qualification, Ginny shot scores of 628.3 and 628.7 while Lucas shot 629.5 and 628.9 in the men’s 10m air rifle to qualify for the finals in their respective events. Istvan shot the best qualification scores on both days which included 633.5, a score equal to the World Record.
The Results:
Women’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Ginny Thrasher (USA) 251.3; 2. Eszter Denes (HUN) 250.8; 3. Eszter Meszaros (HUN) 228.9.
Men’s 10m Air Rifle: 1. Lucas Kozeniesky (USA) 250.8; 2. Istvan Peni (HUN) 250.4; 3. Peter Somogyl (HUN) 229.2.
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