NANJING, China, Aug. 18 -- Pavlo Korostylov of Ukraine surpassed Xuan Vinh Hoang's finals world record, set earlier this year, by 0.6 points to win the men's 10m air pistol at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) on Monday.
Jan Ketzel, an official of the International Shooting Sport Federation, explained to Xinhua that Korostylov's score would not be ratified as a world record, due to an International Olympic Committee directive which states that any records at the YOG are not recognized.
The 18-year-old Korostylov overtook his South Korean counterpart Kim Cheongyong by 203.4 to 199.8 in a final that he dominated from the first competition stage.
Korostylov finished second to Kim in the qualification stage, 587-582. But the narrow qualification deficit didn't affect his confidence. He took a 1.4-point lead over Kim by the end of the first stage.
Kim stayed within touching distance of Korostylov's score through much of the elimination stage.
But in the fourth round of the shootout, Kim faltered and shot scores of 8.9 and 9.9 respectively, as opposed to Korostylov's scores of 10.6 and 10.2. The gap, which was earlier just one point, widened to three points at the end of the round.
Korostylov was a picture of concentration through the final. He maintained his composure and gradually capitalized on the three-point lead.
His scores of 10.6 and 10.4 in the sixth round sealed the deal and widened his lead to four points. Kim fired two shots in excess of 10 in the last round, but it wasn't enough to pip Korostylov off the top of the podium.
"I worked very hard for this medal. I treated today's competition similar to our training. I just wanted to empty my mind and not think about anything else," Korostylov said.
Kim won the silver medal and Edouard Dortomb of France claimed bronze.