Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao in the 10m air rifle mixed team event.
17-year-old Chinese shooter Huang Yuting and her 18-year-old teammate Sheng Lihao clinched the gold medal in the 10m air rifle mixed team event at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Tuesday.
This victory marked Huang’s third gold medal in Hangzhou and the second for Sheng, fresh from his world record-breaking performance in the men’s 10m air rifle on Monday.
The dynamic duo had previously secured the championship in this event at the 2023 Shooting World Championships and are also the junior world record holders.
On Tuesday, they dominated the qualification stage, amassing 634.4 points, a significant 4.1 points ahead of the second-placed Uzbekistan team. The gold-medal match was also a display of dominance by the host team, China, who maintained a consistent lead from start to finish, sealing their victory with a 16-2 score.
“There was a little pressure on the home court,” said Zhejiang-born Huang, who previously won in the women’s 10m air rifle individual and team events. “And I just tried to see it from a positive way.”
“Hangzhou of Zhejiang is a lucky place for me.” she added while discussing her three gold medals.
Sheng was content with his performance. “I will keep on training for the coming events after the Asian Games,” he remarked.
Silver medalist Mukhtasar Tokhirova from Uzbekistan said: “I am very happy to finish second in this competition because this is my first Asian Games. It would have been great to get gold, but I’m OK with silver.”
According to the latest rules, the 10m air rifle event awards two bronze medals. The third and sixth-placed teams from the qualification round face off for one bronze, while the fourth and fifth-placed teams compete for the other.
In the first bronze-medal match, Kazakhstan overcame Iran 17-11.
The second bronze-medal match was a nail-biter. India led 8-0 initially and later had three match points with a 15-11 lead. However, South Korea made an impressive comeback, leveling the score at 15-15, thanks to Park Ha-jun’s sharpshooting. After three consecutive 1-1 ties, the score stood at 18-18. In the 19th round, South Korea narrowly outscored Team India by 0.3 points, clinching the match 20-18.
Also on Tuesday, South Korea clinched the gold in the men’s 10m running target mixed team event with 1,116 points. Kazakhstan followed with 1,111 points, and Indonesia secured the bronze with 1,098 points.
In the individual event, Indonesia’s Muhammad Sejahtera Dwi Putra emerged victorious with 378 points. Kwon Kwangil from DPR Korea secured silver with 377 points, while South Korean shooter Jeong You-jin took bronze, also scoring 377 points but with fewer inner-ten shots than Kwon.
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