China's Olympic champion Li Yuehong wins the men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol gold medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in New Delhi, India, October 16, 2024. /CMG
Li Yuehong of China won the men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol gold medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday.
Li was sitting on a solid lead after perfect performance in the first four series, but then Christian Reitz of Germany appealed his three-out-of-five results, prompting the jury to allow a re-shoot. Then after the fifth series, Reitz raised his hand again during a subsequent shoot-off against his compatriot Oliver Geis, but the jury denied Reitz's appeal this time.
Though Li didn't break his own world record of 39 hits in the end, getting 34 hits was good enough for him to add his second World Cup Final title after clinching the first in 2021. Earlier this year, the 35-year-old secured his first Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
Florian Peter of Germany, who beat Li to win the tournament last year, finished with 30 hits in second. The bronze medal went to Li's fellow Wang Xinjie who managed 23 hits.
Another two Chinese shooters brought home medals from the World Cup Final. Han Jiayu finished the women's 50-meter rifle 3 positions with 453.7 points, coming in third behind gold medalist Rikke Maeng Ibsen of Denmark who had 466.2 and silver medalist Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway who got 465.6 points.
Feng Sixuan added the third bronze for China in the women's 25-meter pistol event. Josefin Eder of Germany edged Camille Jedrzejewski of France 36-35 to win the gold.