MONGOLIAN CLINCHES SECOND CONSECUTIVE WORLD CUP GOLD

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ State Honored Sportswoman and Olympic silver medalist O.Gundegmaa beat Bulgaria's Boneva in the gold medal match, pocketing her second World cup gold in a row, at the ISSF World Cup Rifle /Pistol kicked off Wednesday in Fort Benning, USA. Reigning world champion Zhang won the bronze medal match. Rio 2016 Olympic Quota places went to Bulgaria and France. Bulgarian Antoaneta Boneva who arrived here in Fort Benning after winning a world cup Bronze in Changwon led the semi-final with 18 hits. But tables turned in the gold medal match, where she met Beijing 2008's Olympic Silver medalist O.Gundegmaa of Mongolia. The Mongolian shooter, who had placed in second at the end if the semi-final with 17 hits, took the lead of the medal match after the second series, and shot her way to the highest step of the podium with a net score of 7 points to Boneva's 1. Gundegmaa, ranked second in the world in this event, had already secured a World cup gold and a Rio 2016 Quota place at the first World cup stage of the season in Changwon, S.Korea in April. Therefore, the first of the two Olympic quota places up for grabs at today's final went to Silver medalist Boneva. The bronze medal went to the reigning World Champion, Zhang Jingjing of China, who beat the 2014 Junior world champion Mathilde Lamolle of France, ranked 88th in the world and competing in her first world cup final round. Zhang left few chances to her young opponents, scoring 7 points to Lamolle's 1 in the medal match to step onto Fort Benning's podium. Before the medal matches, the semi-final had cut out four shooters: the 2012 Olympic silver medallist Olena Kostevych of Ukraine and Switzerland's Hedi Diethelm Gerber, who placed in fifth and sixth with 15 hits each, while London 2012 Olympic champion Kim Jangmi of South Korea and Germany's two-time Olympic bronze medalist D.Monkhbayar, who closed the match in seventh and eighth place with 12 hits each. Over 600 athletes representing 76 nations arrived here in Fort Benning to participate in the 10 Olympic rifle and pistol events, trying to secure one of the 24 Rio 2016 Olympic quota places up for grabs during the event. They will compete at the well known shooting range of Fort Benning, which has been expanded this year with the construction of a brand new finals' hall.