Held at the newly renovated Patriot Park in Kubinka, Russia, the first IPSC Rifle World Shoot took place last month hosting 591 competitors from 40 countries. Emerging on top after six days of competition and 30 stages was Finland’s Teemu Rintala. His rifle: the JP Enterprises CTR-02.
Rintala has been shooting for JP since 2015 when he was recruited by Gustav Persson of GP Rifle, JP distributor in Sweden.
“We have always had it in our mind that [Rintala] could become the World Champion,” says Perrson, who sponsors several proficient northern European shooters through GP Rifle. “The best American was Timothy Yackley in 10th place and Jerry Miculek was 25th. That says something about the level of this competition.”
Ascending the podium with two of his fellow Finns, Raine Peltokoski and Jarkko Laukia, Rintala had nothing but praise for the quality and professionalism of the event. “Awesome job, IPSC Russia. It was an honor to be there and be a small part in the huge competition. It was really nice to meet all of you old friends and to make lots of new ones.”
After some time to recuperate, Rintala was asked how it felt to be the best IPSC rifle shooter in the world: “I really don't know yet. I'm proud of myself and happy that all of my sacrifices were worth it. Huge thanks to my sponsors and other supporters for being on my side and believing to me.”
This victory was encouraging for JP, a small Minnesota company. “We started out building the first JP rifles in my basement,” said JP founder, John Paul. “I never imagined that I’d see one of our rifles achieve a win like this in the hands of the world’s best IPSC rifle shooter.”
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