Zalán Pekler at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Zalán Pekler defeated István Péni in the final to win the gold and silver medals in the men’s air rifle solo event at the European 10m Championships in Osijek on Wednesday.
In the event that just debuted at the Championships, Péni topped the first two rounds of the ranking stage with 58 points, while Pekler finished second with 56 to secure their place in the gold medal match, in which the latter triumphed 15-12.
In a statement from the Hungarian Shooting Federation, Zalán Pekler expressed his pleasure to have recovered after Tuesday’s trio event.
Today the results finally came, the main event went as planned, I was able to carry my form over to the gold medal match. I was able to compete with great balance and composure,”
he said, adding that it was fantastic that he and Péni had reached the gold medal match together. “Obviously I wanted to win, but I would not have been disappointed if István had won. We have shot a lot like that against each other in training. I am very happy that two of us could stand on the podium,” said Pekler, who hopes that this will happen many more times in the future.
For Péni, the gold medal match was also a fantastic result. “We can be really happy when two Hungarians make it to the gold medal match as the gold and silver medals are guaranteed. This time Zalán won, congratulations to him. We would gladly accept any other time if the gold medal was decided between us.”
The Hungarian delegation finished the continental competition with four medals. On Tuesday Pekler and Péni, together with Soma Hammerl, finished third in the air rifle trio event, while on Monday the team of Eszter Dénes, Eszter Mészáros and Gitta Bajos finished second.
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Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
