Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist and West Virginia University rifle team shooter Mary Tucker landed a silver medal in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event on March 24 at the Bhopal, India, International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup.
Tucker, a 2020 Olympic silver medalist, shot in the qualification round, followed by the ranking match, where she earned herself a spot in the finals. In the ranking match, she qualified in second place with 261.2, behind Yuting Huang of China in first place with a score of 265.7. Tucker had defeated Alexandrea Le of Kazakhstan who placed third, later falling to Huang in a shoot-off to determine the top two spots. The final score between Tucker and Huang was 16-4.
“I am really proud of how the competition went, it ended up being a lot of fun,” Tucker said. “I am very excited for the next World Cups.”
Tucker entered her first international competition of 2023 after a successful season last year. In 2022 the Sarasota, Fla., native earned bronze in Women’s 50m Rifle Prone, and silver in Women’s 10m Air Rifle team at the ISSF World Championships. Tucker also brought home five medals from the 2022 Championship of the Americas Games, along with a U.S. Olympic quota for the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event. On the home front, earlier this month at the 2023 NCAA rifle championship, Tucker earned a second place finish in the Individual Air Rifle competition.
“I was definitely a little bit nervous going into this World Cup, sometimes the first one kind of sets the tone for the rest of the season,” Tucker said. “I started off rough but knew I still had a chance and fought really hard during my match. I went into the final confident and with a goal of having a perfect process regardless of the outcome.”
Sagen Maddalena, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, also competed in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event, where she placed sixth overall. She went on to compete in the Women’s 50m Rifle 3-Position event, finishing seventh.
Kristen Derting, a rifle shooter at the University of Mississippi, also competed in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event. She qualified for the final but was shooting for ranking points only, not allowing her to compete in the final.
Tim Sherry, another sergeant in the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, shot in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3-Position event. He made the final and placed seventh overall.
Sherry and Maddalena placed 10th overall in the Mixed Team Air Rifle event.
The next ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup will take place in Lima, Peru, from April 11-22.
See the full results of the 2023 ISSF World Cup in Bhopal, India, at the International Shooting Sport Federation website.
Learn more about USA Shooting at usashooting.org.
