440 Marathon of Shooting (2/2)
”But it'll be difficult to get the first prize. After all, Prince is also here. In the last two national shooting championships, Prince defeated Holly with the final kill!”
”Final kill? Do you really think it was a final kill? Obviously, it was because Holly missed his last shot. He always was ahead of Prince, and he always missed his last shot.”
”Sure, that's why he is called the Tragic Last Shot.”
Everyone talked about Holly's last shot and shook their heads helplessly.
...
Adam Holly appeared at the shooting stadium and was immediately surrounded by a crowd of fans. As Blake said, Holly was remembered for missing the last shot at the Olympic Games on the international stage, yet he was still viewed as a world champion and a hero in the hearts of the American people.
Holly signed autographs, was photographed, and finally dealt with his fans. He took his rifle and entered the competition area and adjusted his equipment.
”Adam, several days before I heard that you would retire and wouldn't be attending the competition. Now it seems that was a piece of false news,” said a young man with curly hair walking next to him.
This young man was Prince, Holly's main competitor in America. During the last two national shooting championships, Prince defeated Holly twice, which made him nearly the number one of the 50m rifle event.
Holly looked back at Prince. He didn't say anything and responded with a cold look, just like an old lion king, facing a young lion's aggressive challenge.
Prince continued, ”I heard you applied to a fitness training center recently, right? To be honest, it's beyond my imagination! We are shooters, not those wild guys running and jumping on a field. Shooting is a peaceful sport. What can fitness training do for us? You are just too anxious.”
It was not surprising that Prince knew that Holly attended a fitness training center. Prince was Holly's main rival, and it was normal to know your opponent's condition.
Hearing Prince's words, Holly still said nothing, but his heart was very uncomfortable.
Prince is right. I shouldn't waste time on fitness training. What did I do these days? Dancing with that noisy music, doing yoga lying on a pad, and trudging in the training center? What's the meaning of that? Well, except the massage. Coach Li's massage felt really good. But that was not what I need. I want to not miss the last shot! Maybe I made a mistake this time. I'll terminate the contract after the competition, Holly thought as he adjusted his gun.
...
Dai Li and Blake got something to eat. When they came back, the game was half way over, and the screen showed the results of the players.
”Holly has 876 points, ranking first. Prince has 875 points, in second place. Three people are 874 points and nine 873 points, and many of the rest are 872 points. It seems the gap is quite narrow,” said Dai Li.
”It's quite often narrow in 50m three-position rifle. The gap between the players who enter the final is less than 5 points. In fact, it's impossible to win the championship if you're behind by three points. No one can recover the gap in the last 10 shots,” Blake explained.
50m three-position rifle contained prone position, kneeling position, and standing position with 40 shots each and a full score of 1200 points. These 120 shots only counted integer points. For example, if a player hit the 9.5 ring, it would be only calculated as nine points.
Under the rules, there was actually no difference between 9.9 and 9.1, which would both be calculated as nine points. However, the difference between 9.9 and 10.1 would be amplified.
After these 120 shots, the best eight players would enter the final and each one would shoot another 10 times, and the decimals of the scores would also be calculated. Therefore, the best result would be 10.9 points, and the result of the 10 shots would theoretically reach 109 points in all.
In the last 10 shots, as for the existence of decimals, the difference between 9.9 and 10.1 was not one but 0.2. Under this circumstance, it was harder for the people behind to catch up to the players ahead of them. In the previous phase, they could catch one point with one shot, but now they couldn't, let alone in only ten shots total.
In such a world-class competition, all the players here were extremely good, especially the last eight ones. Everyone could get more than 10.5 points. Therefore, during the last ten shots, it was impossible to catch up if there was a gap over two points.
…
The 50m three-position rifle was really the marathon of shooting. After Dai Li returned back to the field, he waited another hour before all the players finished their own 120 shots.
”Here come the results. Adam Holly's total point is 1174 points, with prone position 399 points, standing position 389 points, and kneeling position 386 points. Holly did much better in prone position than standing and kneeling position,” said Dai Li, looking at the scoreboard.
”It's normal. The 50m rifle event contains the special competition of prone position. Therefore, players usually will train prone position shooting so that their grade in prone shooting will be better. Look at Prince, in second place. He also got 399 points in prone position and both the third and fourth place got 398 points,” Blake said.
”Prince's score is 1174 points, the same as Holly in the first place. The third and the fourth are 1172 points, and they still have hope to win. However, all the players beneath the fifth place are basically out of the race. Next, it is time for the final ten shots!”