Latvia’s Ernests Erbs wins world title in 25m centre-fire pistol in Doha

Ernests Erbs of Latvia became world champion in the 25m centre-fire pistol in Qatar on Thursday, finishing with 588 points, LSM, the Latvian public broadcaster, reported.

Best in both stages

The event is decided over two stages. Erbs topped the precision stage on Wednesday with 293 points, then added 295 in the rapid-fire stage on Thursday and never gave up the lead.

The second day was harder for his team-mates. Lauris Strautmanis was third after the precision stage with 292 but dropped to 20th with a total of 570. Emīls Vasermanis finished 28th of 31 with 560.

Second gold in a week

Latvia led the team event after the first stage but finished fifth of six teams with 1,718 points. On Sunday Erbs, Strautmanis and Vasermanis won the team world title in a 25m small-calibre pistol event, so Erbs now has two gold medals in Doha.

The World Championship in Doha runs until Saturday.