Great Britain, Sweden and New Zealand increased their medal hopes for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games on Friday (18 September), securing more quota places at the IPC Shooting World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
An incredible R5 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2) final unfolded in front of a large and boisterous crowd where Great Britain's 19-year-old Tim Jeffery (211.8) claimed gold by the smallest of margins.
"I knew I was capable of winning, but I didn't think it would really happen. That was my first gold medal and Rio will be my first Paralympics. It's amazing," said Jeffery.
Australian silver medallist Bradley Mark (211.7) fired a 10.7 on the final shot of the competition but fell short of Jeffrey's winning score by just 0.1.
There was also delight for New Zealand as newcomer Jason Eales (190.6) ensured a ticket for Rio 2016 by winning bronze, joining triple Paralympian Michael Johnson.
Eales has only been on the international shooting scene for just over 12 months, and overcame Johnson to claim the medal.
"I'm surprised by the result, but also very thrilled," he said. "My heart was pounding through my chest and I could hear the crowd in the background so the pressure was definitely on."
Eales also featured in the New Zealand team who secured R5 team gold with help from Johnson and Phillip Skinner (1894).
Slovenia picked up silver thanks to Gorazd Francek Tirsek, Damjan Pavlin and Veselka Pevec (1891.7), whilst Mark, Luke Cain and Tracey Jackson rounded out the podium with bronze for Australia (1882.5).
Slovakia's European champion Veronika Vadovicova (439.8) was victorious in R8 (women's 50m rifle three positions SH1) over South Korea's Yunri Lee (435.8) and China's Yaping Yan (424.7).
Lotta Helsinger secured Sweden's latest Rio 2016 place in the event with a sixth-place finish.
"I am very relieved! I can't talk, I'm just so happy" said a breathless Helsinger. "It's the first quota spot for Sweden here in Sydney and our third in total. I am hoping my teammates can secure some more by the end of the day."
Sweden did indeed end the day with a total of three quota places thanks to Ellinor Vaughn Axelsson picking up the women's R5 spot and Hakan Gustafsson claiming the R7 quota.
"We are really happy to have secured so many places here in Sydney. It wasn't expected so it is quite a nice surprise. No wild celebrations just yet, we have some more competition tomorrow [Saturday] and then the fun can begin," said Sweden's head coach.
The R7 (men's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1) saw victory for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Abdulla Sultan Alaryani (444.8) ahead of the South Korean duo of Youngjip Shim (443.6) and Jinhwa Jeon (428.5).
Alaryani took control in the final and was happy to come away with his latest World Cup gold medal. "I won here four years ago at the World Cup in 2011 so it's great to repeat that feat again today [Friday]," he said.
Shim and Jeon teamed up with Jinho Park to take the team event with a score of 3413. UAE's team comprised of Alaryani, Obaid Aldahmani and Abdulla Saif Alaryani collected silver, missing out on the golden double by just two points (3411).
The final day of competition will take place on Saturday (19 September) with four more events including R6 (mixed 50m rifle prone SH1), P1 (men's 10m air pistol SH1), R9 (mixed 50m rifle prone SH2) and P2 (women's 10m air pistol SH1).
The IPC Shooting World Cup in Sydney is the second and penultimate Paralympic qualifier of 2015. The next and final qualifier will take place in Fort Benning, USA, between 3-7 November.
Live results are available at http://www.paralympic.org/shooting/live-results.
Live updates, behind the scenes content and pictures will also be posted to IPC Shooting's Twitter and Facebook pages under #SydneyWorldCup15.
For more information, contact:
Lucy Dominy, IPC Public Relations and Campaigns Manager
e-mail: lucy.dominy@paralympic.org
call +49-228-2097-159
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