Dominant Strempfl wins online shooting competition

Dominant Strempfl wins online shooting competition
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New Delhi: Martin Strempfl of Austria capped off his dominant run with a convincing 2-0 whitewash of Serbian Milenko Sebic to win the TOPGUN online shooting competition.

The tournament, which concluded on Saturday night, was organised by former India shooter Shimon Sharif.

From the start of the 10-day event, Strempfl was in sublime form with his Steyr air rifle. He won the qualification match by a distance with a score of 636.6 (3.1 more than world record), and was hardly tested by Israel's Shiri Strenberg and world no. 3 Lucas Kozeniesky of USA in the quarterfinal and semifinal, respectively.

The final was expected to be a close affair but the experienced Serbian failed to test the Austrian Olympic quota winner.

Milenko didn't look in his best shape in the competition. Apart from participating in the online meet, the Olympian took part in events in Croatia and Austria.

This saw Milenko drive long hours as he competed in various stages of this competition from three countries.

Though he shot from the comfort of his home in the final, fatigue prevented him from giving his best.

If this played to Strempfl's advantage, what swung the final firmly in his way was the experience gained over the past few months in online competitions across platforms.

The pressure of the 'Race to 10' is not for the faint hearted and for once even Strempfl succumbed to it towards the closing stages of the first match.

Rarely would a shooter at the top level score a point with a sub-10 score, but that's what happened when Strempfl floundered with a 9.4 in response to Milenko's 9.8.

He went on to wrap it up with two high 10s to make it 10-7.

Milenko lost, but it was in no way a surrender. Like Strempfl, he too shot a sub-10 just once, but what made the difference was the intensity of his rival's performance.

Two perfect scores and six 10.8s are tough to reply to, and it was to Milenko's credit that he fought back in the second match after Strempfl looked to be cruising with a 6-1 lead.

The World Cup Final silver medallist paused to have a word with wife and coach Alina, which led him to close the gap to 5-7.

"She told me to keep fighting, that made me feel better but it wasn't enough," said Milenko.

"I arrived in Serbia from Austria at 2 AM and was tired, but it is not an excuse. It was a tough match," he added.

Despite the fatigue Milenko will be turning up for his country's national trials in 3 position on Sunday.

Strempfl wrapped up the final in the next three shots to cap a performance that was in sync with his stature as one of the best in the business.

"I could feel my heart beat during every shot and the pressure of a final was real. There were a few shaky shots but this has been very good preparation for the forthcoming European Championships," said Strempfl.