Australian Potent equals world record to win men's 50-meter rifle prone

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Australian sharpshooter Warren Potent equaled the world record in men's 50-meter rifle prone with 704.8 points to crown at the Good Luck Beijing ISSF World Cup here on Friday.

He was closely followed by American shooter Thomas Tamas with 704.3 points, whose teammate Michael Mcphail snatched the bronze with 704.1 points.

Potent, who acquired two world cup golds last year, and Tamas, world qualification record holder, shared a leading qualification score of 599 and explained the meaning of sitzkrieg with their performances.

In the first shot of the ten-shot final, the 46-year-old Potent got a 10.1 and was thus surpassed by his American rival with a 10.7, who, however, only maintained his advantage to the fifth shot, when he fell behind with a 0.2-point margin.

A third transcension occurred after the seventh shot, while in the next shot, the duo ended in a draw.

Potent collected a 10.7 in the ninth shot.

Tamas, 43, who was the last finalist to open fire, managed to gain a slim advantage of 0.1 point and begot hurrahs and applauses.

In the decisive last shot, Potent made a fast firing--another 10.7.

With a 10.1, Tamas sent his Australian rival to top of the podium.

When acknowledged that he equaled the world record after the competition, Potent appeared excited, "Oh really? My heart begins to beat now," he said, "I was really happy. I never thought I could make it before the final."

"I hope I could have similar performance in the Olympics," he added.

The champion said he enjoyed the sport. "I just controlled every shot. You can never predict that you'll be No.1, but today is my day," he said.

Another American shooter, 26-year-old Mcphail who was the youngest finalist, surged from the fourth place and scored seven of the ten shots above 10.5. With the highest final round mark--a staggering 105.1 points, he secured a bronze.

Talking about his secret for the victory, the restrained young man said, "there's no secret. Just try hard."

"I will tell you in August," added the runner-up jokingly, who competed with his shoes.

"It was so hot," Tamas explained.

Two famous shooters, Matthew Emmons from the United States and Sergei Martynov from Belarus who equaled world qualification record of 600 like Tamas in previous competitions, failed to live up to their abilities and notched up 596 and 592 points respectively.

"Emmons is a great shooter," Potent felt regretful for the Olympic gold medalist, "It's probably not his day, but I am sure he will be back."

Chinese shooter Jia Zhanbo, Liu Gang and Qiu Jian collected 596,590 and 590 points in the qualification and were ranked 9, 44 and 45.

"All the shooters in this event are great and they have been keeping a high level," commented Wang Yifu, head coach of the Chinese national shooting squad, "We see that we currently fall behind them, which urges us to train ever harder."

Wang also noted that the foreign athletes imposed great pressure to Chinese shooters.

At the mentioning of Jia Zhanbo, Olympic gold medalist who won the luckiest victory in men's 50-meter rifle three positions in Athens as his major rival Emmons shot at a wrong target, the coach disclosed his worry.

"He shot 596 and failed to show up in the final. It indicates that our shooters still have to improve and learn from our opponents in every aspect, such as the shooting skills, psychological conditions, and the ability to concentrate on while shooting," he said.