Shooter Bakes Sets Record, Wins Gold

Someday, Milan Bakes of Czechoslovakia might find himself the toast of Pilsen, his hometown.

As one of the world’s finest small-bore free-rifle shooters, he is coming close.

Bakes, 27, set a world record in the kneeling portion of the three-position rifle competition Friday en route to a gold medal at the 1990 World Cup USA Olympic-style shooting tournament at Petersen’s Prado Tiro Ranges in Chino.

By scoring 396 of a possible 400 points, Bakes broke the record set last week in Mexico City by Yugoslavia’s Rajmond Debevec.

The event includes 120 total shots in three positions--prone, standing and kneeling.

Bakes once held the record for standing, too, but that was four years ago. He has yet to hold the prone record, but his 397 in that discipline helped him take a big lead in one of three medal events Friday.

Counting the 10-shot shoot-off, Bakes finished with 1,275.9 points out of 1,309. Jean Pierre Amat of France was second with 1,271.9.

Bakes, a lieutenant in the Czech army, said he was confident after his kneeling performance that he would do well.

In the day’s closest competition, Francoise Decharne of Moulin, France, won the women’s air rifle competition with a total of 496.4 of a possible 509. Soon Young Jin of South Korea was second and Deena Wigger of Murray, Ky., was third.

Wigger was second after the regular competition ended, but fell 0.7 of a point behind Jin in a 10-shot final round.

All international events have added the final round to increase television and spectator interest. The top eight shooters in pistol, rifle and air events qualify, whereas the top six advance in shotgun events.

In women’s air pistol, Jasna Sekaric of Yugoslavia won her second gold of the four-day event with a total of 490.8. Hyun Joo Bang of South Korea was second and Margit Stein of West Germany was third.

Sekaric, 24, held a nine-point lead going into the final round.

“My final was not so good,” she said. “I had too big of a lead. I usually shoot better in these finals when I am pressed.”

Despite her lapse, she still won by 8.4 points over Bang, perhaps the most appropriately named competitor in this tournament featuring 46 countries.

Sekaric, a secretary at a shooting club, said she has been competing for 10 years. She won gold and bronze medals at the Seoul Olympics.

Bang, also 24, and a Seoul bank accountant, did not fare so well in 1988. Friday was her best international performance.