"VAN" (Sports Desk - 08.12.2025) :: Norway's Jeanette Hegg Duestad capped off an incredible 2025 season with victory in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions final, winning under a new-look format at the 2025 ISSF World Cup Final in Doha, Qatar.
Great Britain's Seonaid McIntosh took the silver medal to continue what has been a successful late 2025 return, and Anna Janssen was back on the podium with bronze.
Qualification
Off the back of winning the world title last month in Cairo, Jeanette Hegg Duestad's form continued the way it has been all season, as she equalled the world record in qualification with a score of 596. Great Britain's Seonaid McIntosh, the bronze medallist in that final in Egypt, was one point behind, with Czechia's Barbora Dubska scoring 594 for third.
Olympic medallists Switzerland's Nina Christen and Sagen Maddalena of the United States, finished on 592 and 591. Germany's Anna Janssen and China's Miao Wanru matched the American, while Denmark's Rikke Ibsen was the last qualifier on 588. Switzerland's world silver medallist Emely Jaeggi and Sift Kaur Samra of India would miss out in ninth and 10th.
The Final
Jeanette Hegg Duestad has often had the target on her back this season, so to speak, and was locked in with Seonaid McIntosh from the start, as the Scot led by 0.1 following the kneeling section. That leading score of 104.5 was far enough ahead of third-placed Miao Wanru on 103.8, as Anna Janssen and Barbora Dubska were next on 102.9 and 102.7. Sagen Maddalena was sixth on 102.0 and Nina Christen and Rikke Ibsen were at the back on 101.6 and 100.2.
After the prone shots, it was Duestad that moved into the lead, moving onto a total of 208.7 ahead of McIntosh's 208.3. Janssen, who had the best prone score, was now in third on 207.5, followed by Dubska and Miao over 206 and Maddalena on 205.8. Christen and Ibsen remained in the elimination spots in seventh and eighth on 204.9 and 204.5 respectively.
The quality of the Norwegian shone through in the standing shots, with the highest series of five in the field heading into the elimination shots. A 52.8 from a possible 54.5 pushed her far ahead of the Scot, with the leader now on 312.8. Janssen's form continued to show as she overtook McIntosh, the pair now locked together on 310.7 and 310.5.
Dubska and Miao were adrift on 309.3 and 308.3, while Ibsen had pulled herself from last to sixth to remain in the competition on 306.8.
Maddalena would finish in eighth after struggling on the standing shots. Leaving with her in seventh was Nina Christen of Switzerland, who announced her retirement earlier this week. She leaves as a legend of Swiss shooting, having won a gold and bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in rifle.
Duestad Cushion Leads to Victory in Elimination Stage
Tackling a new format means adjusting to the quirks of the event, but Jeanette Hegg Duestad was unshakeable.
The first two elimination shots saw her score 10.4 and 10.5 to increase her lead, only being outscored by Barbora Dubska, whose superb 10.7 and 10.9 brought her from fourth to second, as McIntosh's 9.1 put her in danger of missing out completely. Far enough at the bottom of the table, Ibsen was the first to leave in the double shots in sixth.
But shooting changes in a matter of moments. The Czech athlete looked a serious threat to the podium, but would follow this up with a 9.4 and 8.6. A deficit of 2.9 to Miao Wanru was now gone as the Chinese athlete scored 10.4 and 10.5 to take it to a shoot-off, with Dubska scoring a crucial 10.8 to remain in the competition.
Now Dubska had a large gap to make up, and her opponents would not slip up enough to allow her onto the podium. McIntosh, who scored 10.0 and 10.4 in the previous series, was now 0.9 behind Janssen, who had scored 10.2 and 10.5. Duestad's lead would be eaten into when she scored 10.0 and 10.3. This would then be followed by a solid, but unspectacular two 10.0s, as her lead came down to two points. McIntosh pulled out a great series, with two 10.6s to move into second ahead of Janssen, who scored no higher than 10. Too far back, Dubska finished fourth.
High-quality shooting started the penultimate series as Janssen nibbled into the 0.5 gap to McIntosh with a 10.6, as the other two scored 10.5. Janssen would score a 10.2, but McIntosh pushed ahead with a 10.8, bringing the gap down to 1.6 to the Norwegian.
McIntosh started with a 10.1, but Duestad only mustered a 9.5, bringing the gap down to one with a shot to go. A 10.0 for the Scot would not be enough as the Norwegian scored 9.9. In this new-look 50m rifle 3 positions final, Duestad would finish with a total of 414.3 to McIntosh's 413.4.
For the Norwegian it signed off a superb season for her, with a second World Cup Final title in Doha. An emotional McIntosh.
What the Athletes Had to Say
Jeanette Hegg Duestad: "Right now it feels really good. It's a great way to finish up a brilliant season. It couldn't have been better. Doha is nice, it's warm and it's a nice break from rainy, cold Norway. We've had a nice trip and we're looking forward to World Champs next year.
"[The new format] Of course it's new and a little more adrenaline than usual for a final because we haven't completely figured out the strategy we want to use, but I've tried it a few times at home. I think it could be nice, it's a little more like qualification where we can follow our own speed, so we just need to find a balance of when we can be offensive and where to just wait.
"The last few competitions have been very nice, my technique has been great and also my mental game has been good these days."
Seonaid McIntosh: "I think it's gone quite well, I'm pretty happy with it! After Cairo I was just looking for a little more consistency across between match and final, but across the board which I did in qualification before I even came in here. From there it was trying out this new format.
"I liked it. It's quite different and it will take a wee bit of getting used to from a technical point of view, but it's really interesting. I'm curious to watch it back and see what it looks like from a spectator point of view.
"I'm quite ready for a rest. I don't think my stamina is quite what it used to be, so I'm looking forward to Christmas time. I also love Christmas so I'm very excited to get home. Then we'll pick it up in January and see where we go from there. So bronze, silver...you know? There's an obvious next step!"
Anna Janssen: "I'm feeling pretty good. It's been an amazing final and a great experience to shoot the final format for the first time. I really enjoyed it and it's kinda more fun than before to be honest.
"It's important [to win this medal] because this season has been special for me. I took quite a long break to finish my studies and came back for the ISSF World Cup in Munich and China. The World Championship didn't work out how I wanted it to be, now to finish up with a medal is fantastic.
"Now for some skiing, family time and to finish my studies and hopefully back in time for the European Championships."
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