U.S. Men's Air Pistol Shooters Stopped in Qualifying Round
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 9:35 am
ATHENS – Sgt. First Class Daryl Szarenski, of the Army Marksmanship Unit, came within three points of advancing to the finals in the men's 10m air pistol competition at the Markopoulo Shooting Centre Saturday. The other American entry, Jason Turner (Rochester, N.Y.), posted a score of 571 to finish in a tie for 36th place.
Szarenski, a 2000 Olympian in 50m free pistol, will shoot in both air and free pistol in Athens. Szarenski looked strong early in the air match, but the shots just didn’t fall his way as he finished tied for 13th place with a qualifying score of 579. The gold medalist, Yifu Wang, of China, shot a 590 to qualifying. The cutoff to make the final was a 582.
“A 584 was well within reach,” Szarenski said. “I have been playing the shots over in my head and every shot was well-executed. My concentration has been off the last few weeks in practice, so I was happy with today. I didn’t have any shot that was way off. Unfortunately, they just didn’t fall in my favor.”
Szarenski (Seale, Ala.) looks to maintain his focus for his next event, 50m free pistol, which starts on Tuesday. He usually is stronger in men’s free, and won the gold medal in that event at the 2003 Pan American Games.
Turner, a Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center athlete, also looks forward to the next event. This is Turner’s first Olympic Games, but he is no stranger to the international circuit and was the gold medalist and quota place winner at the 2003 Pan American Games in men’s air. This time, however, it was apparent that he wasn’t on his mark, even though this 10m event is usually his specialty.
“I had one shot early on that just threw me off,” Turner commented after the event. “My confidence dropped after that shot, and I just couldn’t get back on track. I need to figure out what went wrong, and fix it.”
Turner looks now to establish himself in the 50m event and at these Olympic Games.
For more information on the USA Shooting Team, please log on to www.usashooting.org.
Szarenski, a 2000 Olympian in 50m free pistol, will shoot in both air and free pistol in Athens. Szarenski looked strong early in the air match, but the shots just didn’t fall his way as he finished tied for 13th place with a qualifying score of 579. The gold medalist, Yifu Wang, of China, shot a 590 to qualifying. The cutoff to make the final was a 582.
“A 584 was well within reach,” Szarenski said. “I have been playing the shots over in my head and every shot was well-executed. My concentration has been off the last few weeks in practice, so I was happy with today. I didn’t have any shot that was way off. Unfortunately, they just didn’t fall in my favor.”
Szarenski (Seale, Ala.) looks to maintain his focus for his next event, 50m free pistol, which starts on Tuesday. He usually is stronger in men’s free, and won the gold medal in that event at the 2003 Pan American Games.
Turner, a Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center athlete, also looks forward to the next event. This is Turner’s first Olympic Games, but he is no stranger to the international circuit and was the gold medalist and quota place winner at the 2003 Pan American Games in men’s air. This time, however, it was apparent that he wasn’t on his mark, even though this 10m event is usually his specialty.
“I had one shot early on that just threw me off,” Turner commented after the event. “My confidence dropped after that shot, and I just couldn’t get back on track. I need to figure out what went wrong, and fix it.”
Turner looks now to establish himself in the 50m event and at these Olympic Games.
For more information on the USA Shooting Team, please log on to www.usashooting.org.