(Beijing, April 19) The men's 25m rapid fire pistol final of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 ISSF World Cup concluded at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall this afternoon, with Russian marksman and Sydney Olympic champion Sergei Alifirenko claiming the title with a score of 786.7 points, followed by Alexei Kilmov, another Russian shooter, with 780.9. 

China's Zhang Penghui, second in the qualifications, took the bronze medal with 778.3. With 579 and 567 respectively in the qualifications Zhang's teammates Chen Yongqiang, a sixth-place finisher at Athens 2004, and Liu Zhongsheng, an Olympic hopeful, placed 10th and 28th and had to miss the finals.

In the final, Zhang scored 49.0 and 50.1 points in the first two strings but only 47.1 in the third, which affected his total result. Although he managed 50.1 in the last string, he had to settle for the third place by a margin of 2.6 points behind the runner-up.

Placing fourth to sixth were German veteran Ralf Schumann (776.8), Cuban Leuris Pupo (776.7) and Korean Sangjun Cha (775.6) respectively.