The men's individual final saw tough competition which was described as a clash of the titans between 15 of the world's 16 top-ranked pentathletes, but ultimately it came down to a private battle between only three. And, the Egyptian was definitely one of them, battling it out until he made it to the podium for the bronze medal. Al-Guindi was a gold medalist at World Cup I held in Egypt in February. Christian Zillekens of Germany emerged a triumphant gold medalist, beating Valentin Prades of France by three seconds. It is rare that two medalists in a pentathlon competition end up feeling disappointed with the result, but that was the outcome for both Prades, who fell during the Laser Run and lost crucial momentum, and for bronze medalist Al-Guindi, 19, who took the lead on the final lap before fading. The high level of performances was underlined by the calibre of the athletes left behind by the medalists. They were joined on the podium by Great Britain duo Jamie Cooke (fourth) and Joseph Choong (fifth) and Jan Kuf of the Czech Republic, who was sixth. For 23-year-old Zillekens, the taste of gold was especially sweet as this was his first Pentathlon World Cup medal, underlining the consistency he had shown with four top-10 finishes since 2016, culminating in fourth place at the Pentathlon World Cup Sofia last month. “I cannot believe it. I started the Laser Run in fourth place and I would have been happy with this place in the end. I shot very well and then in the last 100 metres, my finish was good and I gave everything. I knew I could get it,” Zillekens told the official Website of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM). “I saw that Valentin was close behind us, and it was a hard finish, but in the end I had a better finishing speed. I hope to get a good place in the Pentathlon World Cup Final in Tokyo. I will try to do my best. We will see.” Silver gave France's Prades enough ranking points to push him above Jun Woongtae of Korea (17th) into the world No 1 position, but the 2018 world silver medalist wasn't entirely happy with his day's work. “It was a nice show, but I didn't shoot well today. It wasn't good enough for winning gold and that's the reason I am second. Not a good Laser Run and I am not very happy. “It's a high performance, and my running was good, but I am not at my top level and I also had a crash on the turn. Maybe that was the difference [between silver and gold]; we will never know. But I am very happy for Christian. I'm preparing for the events in the summer and this one is very good physical preparation.” According to UIPM, Al-Guindi's bronze medal was another mark of star quality, coming on the back of his breakthrough gold medal at the Pentathlon World Cup Cairo in February. Pentathlon's most exciting prospect won the UIPM world gold at junior and youth levels in 2018, as well as the Youth Olympic Games gold medal. “It was a very good day today and I won the third position and I'm very happy. Actually I wasn't expecting this position because the last period was not good for me – a few injuries and ups and downs and not very good training. “My swimming was not very good but fencing was good today – I finished in seventh position and fourth overall. But my riding was the best since I started riding, and 300 points secured my place. I moved forward one place. “There was a three second gap between me and the silver medalist Prades, and he was very strong in the run. I shot very well today but didn't run very well. The last lap wasn't good for me, there was no endurance in my running. “I was up against two great athletes, and they were idols of mine when I was in the youth ranks and I'm happy to be competing with them. My next target is the Pentathlon World Cup Final in Tokyo in June, where I hope to qualify for the Olympic Games. If not, then I hope to qualify at the Pentathlon World Championships in Budapest,” Al-Guindi said.
