Darn last series: Monika Karsch has to fight for the finals

Her goal is to win an Olympic medal with a sports pistol.

But sports shooter Monika Karsch now has to fight hard in Tokyo.

In the first part of the competition, the last series was her undoing.

Tokyo / Rott - Monika Karsch is actually a real cheerful person. After the first part of the program with the sport pistol, the native Schongauer could not hide her disappointment. "It's just a shame when you've worked well but aren't rewarded," complained the 38-year-old after the three series in terms of precision. In the end she had 288 rings, which means 23rd place before the second part on Friday morning. In order to reach a place in the Olympic final of the best eight, the sports soldier has to catch up three rings. That's not impossible, especially since the duel suits her better than the precision. "I would have expected a better starting position, but it goes on," she says fiercely.

That Karsch would take on the role of the huntress was not to be expected after the first series.

In the first half of the round, she sprinkled two nines, but then followed five tens in a row.

With 98 rings, the shooter, who grew up in Rott, was clearly on course.

She also succeeded admirably with the second series.

In the end she recorded a nine more than at the beginning, but seven tens made for a comfortable 97 points.

What happened to her in the third section remained a mystery.

At least Karsch's thread broke.

Only three more shots found their way straight to the target.

Seven scraped past it.

In the last four of the ten attempts, she didn't want a single ten to succeed.

With a 93 she hailed her result.

Monika Karsch has to catch up three rings

“Unfortunately, our weakness in precision continued in the competitions,” said Barbara Georgi, commenting on the result. The national coach pointed out, however, “that Moni had a bit of bad luck with six 9.9 ratings, three of them in the last series”. With a little more luck, she could easily have gotten a result over 290 rings. "A nine is a nine and a ten is a ten," commented Thomas Karsch from afar about his wife's performance. The state trainer pistol of the Bavarian Rifle Association admitted that “in the end she lost her patience and made a few small mistakes”.

But plugging is not an option for the shooter. Immediately after the competition she practiced duels and performed well. "She knows that she has to stay cool now," is how her husband assesses her situation between the two competitions. It is clear that some of the competitors who are ahead of her do not count the duel as one of her strengths. In addition, the Olympic runner-up in Rio is an incorrigible optimist who can make something out of any situation. "It suits her to get everything out of the defensive," said Thomas Karsch, counting on the fact that she can wipe out the gap again with three good series in the duel and make it back to the final like five years ago in Rio. “Faith is important now,” says her husband. For Valentine's Day he gave her a necklace with gold-plated Olympic rings.This talisman should not fail to work now.