Three-time Olympic Champion, who has won an Olympic medal in all her six appearances in the last six Olympics, Kimberly Rhode of USA, won her 14th World Cup gold at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi.
Indian shooters Rashmee Rathore (66), Arti Singh (63) and Saniya Sheikh (60) could not make it to the finals.
Competing under the new ISSF Rules in the first competition of the season didn’t seem to be a problem for the 37-year-old American, who distanced all of her rival thanks to an impressive series of 33 consecutive targets that she crushed midway through the final, while other athletes were busy trying to avoid elimination.
After that performance, Rhode found herself sitting on a comfortable 3-hits lead over Thailand’s Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit, and in the following last round of 10 targets, she managed that gap without any further problem, keeping the Thai shooter at a safe distance and concluding with 56 total hits against Jiewchaloemmit 51.
The 37-year-old, who now counts twenty-five total medals in the ISSF World Cup, 16 in the women’s Skeet event, said: “I think there’s not really any secret. It’s just a lot of hard work and a lot of practice. I owe a lot to my family and to my training. I’m just never giving up!”
“I like the new format of the finals,” she continued. “It allows us to case our talent, and it allowed me and Sutiya to battle all along the match for the Gold medal. I think it’s great, and I think it will showcase a lot more of our abilities.”
“This is my first time in India, I loved it and I will definitely come back!” Concluded Rhode.
Thailand’s Sutiya Jewchaloemmit won the silver while bronze was won by Chloe Tipple of New Zealand whose previous best in a World Cup was a 25th place in Baku, Azerbaijan last year.
The 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist Diana Bacosi of Italy was the first shooter to be eliminated after 20 targets. The 33-year-old missed three of her last six targets to finish 6th.
The Results:
Women’s Skeet: 1. Kimberly Rhode (USA) 56 (WR) 73; 2. Sutiya Jewchaloemmit (THA) 51 (73); 3. Chloe Tipple (NZL) 42 (71); 17. Rashmee Rathore 66; 24. Arti Singh 63; 27. Saniya Sheikh 60. MQS: Jasmeen Kaur 66; Ganemat Sekhon 58.
