Sporting a pair of new lucky pink socks, NSW’s Dan Repacholi strengthened his claims for a fifth Olympics after winning the men’s 10m Air Pistol in the Tokyo Olympic Games nomination event at the Brisbane International Shooting Centre today.
After a sluggish start, Repacholi fired a final score of 236.7 points to defeat Victoria’s Sergei Evglevski (233.2) and NSW’s Damien Dowling (212.7).
Western Australia’s Bailey Groves, the only other athlete to register a Minimum Quota Score to be eligible for Australian Olympic team selection in the event, qualified second for the final with a score of 574 – one point behind Repacholi – but lost further ground on the Tokyo nomination scoreboard when finishing fourth in the final.
While pleased to record his second nomination event victory, Repacholi acknowledge there is room for improvement.
“In the first event, the score was a little lower and this event the score was a little bit higher. There’s still a lot more improvement to go,” said Repacholi.
“The final in the first one was good, the final in this one needs a little more work. But it’s all going in the right direction. Two wins, you can’t ask for anything better.
“There’s another event tomorrow and I’ll come and do what I need to do and hopefully walk away with another win,” he added.
The bearded 2.06 metre giant presented an interesting figure competing in pink socks, which were a Christmas gift from his two daughters, instead of his long-used rainbow coloured socks.
“They’re the bosses between all three of them. I’m just a little bystander who sits in the corner,” he grinned.
Victoria’s Elena Galiabovitch didn’t require any lucky charms or magic potions when outclassing the field in the women’s 25m Pistol.
The Melbourne doctor had the right medicine tally 31 points out of a possible 50 to defeat Queensland’s Civon Smith (25) and South Australia’s Alison Heinrich (22 points).
With two nomination events remaining, Galiabovitch has opened a healthy 46 point lead in the Tokyo selection event scoreboard over NSW’s Danielle Moleman and South Australia’s Alison Heinrich who are both on 1130 points.
Despite her lead, Galiabovitch says she isn’t calculating the nomination scoreboard.
“I’m not falling into the trap of thinking about the points. I just need to focus on myself,” she said.
The third of four men’s 10m Air Pistol and the women’s 25m Pistol events will be held tomorrow.
