Top seed Martynov wins 50m rifle prone at Olympics test

London, April 25 (IANS) World No. 1 Sergei Martynov of Belarus has won the men's 50m rifle prone at the 2012 ISSF World Cup and test event for the London Olympic Games here.

Entering the final with 595 points, tied to Denmark's Torben Grinmmel, he finished in second after the first shots, climbing then back in the leadership after Grimmel shot twice in the ninth ring.

Scoring 104.9 points in the final, Martynov tallied 699.9 points, winning the first gold medal of the season, and securing his leadership at top of the world raking, Xinhua reported.

"It's normal for me, the results are not really exciting here, the scores are not so good," the winner said, showing his proverbial self-control.

The two-time ISSF world champion and six-time World Cup final winner has been winning all, in the last 25 years. The only medal missing from Martynov's showcase is the Olympic gold.

The sharpshooter finished twice in third place, in 2000 and 2004, and made it to five Olympic final matches, never finding his way to the highest step of the podium.

Martynov, 44, is not considering retirement, and he will try to play his best aces this summer on the Royal Artillery Barracks Olympic lines.

Denmark's 36-year-old finalist Grimmel, the Olympic silver medallist of Sydney 2000, finished second with a total of 698.7 points, his ninth ISSF World Cup medal in the last 15 years.