(From L to R) Silver medalist Klaudia Bres of Poland, gold medalist Jiang Ranxin of China and bronze medalist Zhao Nan of China pose during the award ceremony for women's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, Peru, April 13, 2023. /ISSF
China's Olympic 10m air pistol mixed team champion Jiang Ranxin claimed her first World Cup victory in the women's 10m air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Lima, Peru, on Thursday.
Jiang, 22, who also secured a bronze in the individual event at the Tokyo Olympics, placed second in both qualification and ranking matches after Klaudia Bres of Poland.
The gold medal match seemed one-sided when Jiang took a 10-2 lead, but the 2019 European champion Bres made a strong comeback, winning the next five shots to turn the fortune around at 12-10. Jiang regained her form to take the gold medal point at 14-12 before sealing the victory with an impressive 10.5 to Bres' 10.2.
(From L to R) Silver medalist Zhang Bowen of China, gold medalist Damir Mikec of Serbia and bronze medalist Ismail Keles of Turkey pose during the award ceremony for the men's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Lima, Peru, April 13, 2023. /ISSF
China's 18-year-old Zhao Nan, who won three silver medals at the junior world championships last year, earned a bronze in her senior international competition debut.
In the men's 10m air pistol competition, China's Zhang Bowen overcame a mediocre performance in the qualification to book a final clash with Damir Mikec, who was also the winner at the Tokyo Olympics. But Zhang, 26, was defeated by the Serbian veteran 16-10 in the gold medal match. Ismail Keles of Turkey claimed the bronze.
Team China achieved the best World Cup results last month in India, with a haul of eight gold medals, two silvers and two bronzes out of 10 events.
The Lima World Cup will continue on Friday with 10m air rifle and air pistol mixed team golds up for grabs.
(With input from Xinhua)