Final near miss for British shooter Stirton

GREAT Britain's Neil Stirton missed qualification for the 50m rifle prone final at the World Cup in Beijing by just two points.

Stirton - a World Cup silver medallist in Munich last year - shot 593 in the elimination round and 592 in qualifying. But his score ranked him 14th overall with only the top eight reaching the final.

Fellow Scot Jonathan Hammond had a disappointing day on the range - shooting 589 and 583 to finish 46th overall.

Australia's Warren Potent won his second straight World Cup title after also claiming gold in Changwon, South Korea a week ago.

"Beijing could be a lucky place for me," said Potent, the bronze medallist at last year's Olympics.

Josselin Henry, who finished second to Potent in Changwon, took the silver again while the bronze medal went to Michael Mcphail of the United States.