CAIRO, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Norway's Jeanette Hegg Duestad won the women's 50m rifle three positions gold at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol in Cairo on Tuesday, returning to the city where she claimed the world title last year.
The reigning world champion scored 362.7 points to secure gold, ahead of the Czech Republic's Veronika Blazickova, who took silver with 358.9, while Denmark's Rikke Maeng Ibsen claimed bronze with 349.1.
Duestad topped the qualification round with 592 points before taking an early lead in the final. She scored 208.9 points across the kneeling and prone stages and maintained her advantage through the standing stage, where shooters were progressively eliminated, eventually winning by 3.8 points.
The eight-woman final featured four of the world's top five shooters, including world No. 1 Seonaid McIntosh of Britain, who finished eighth. Switzerland's Chiara Leone, the reigning Olympic champion, placed fourth.
Despite the victory, Duestad said she had not felt technically at her best.
"It feels really good. I haven't felt at my best technically today, but I managed to actually fight every single shot," she told Xinhua. "In the end, it ended up really good."
Duestad also highlighted the strength of the competition, saying, "We have world champions here, Olympic champions, World Cup winners. I think actually all eight of us could have won this final."
For 23-year-old Blazickova, the silver marked her first World Cup medal after four previous appearances in finals.
Blazickova said she was pleased with her performance in the prone and standing positions, but considered kneeling her weakest stage and an area she needed to improve, adding that she had not expected to win silver against such strong competition.
Ibsen, a former European champion, secured her first World Cup medal of the season with bronze.
The ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol, held from October 8 to 16 at Egypt International Olympic City in the New Administrative Capital, east of Cairo, brings together hundreds of shooters from 51 countries and regions. ■
