Taiwan won silver in the 10m women’s air pistol event yesterday at the Asian Games, which opened in Incheon, South Korea, on Friday. It was Taiwan’s first medal at the Games.
Wu Chia-ying, Tu Yi Yi-tzu and Tien Chia-chen scored 1,141 points in total to place second after China’s best-three total of 1,146. Mongolia won bronze with 1,140 points.
China grabbed three of the four gold medals at stake on the opening day of the shooting competition.
Photo: CNA
Indian marksman Jitu Rai won the other gold on the opening day — the first for his country at the Games.
China’s win in the 10m event was the first gold won overall at the games.
South Korea, led by London Olympics 25m gold medal winner Kim Jang-mi, was considered the favorite in the event, but finished fourth, to the disappointment of the local crowd.
Photo: EPA
Guo, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion, shot 384 and Zhang and Zhou each scored 381. South Korea’s Kim and Jung Jee-hae also shot 384, but Oh Min-kyung’s poor score of 372 spoiled the team’s chances.
“We were not sure of gold and the [South] Koreans seemed a confident lot ahead of the games,” Chinese coach Wang Yifu said. “One of their shooters did really bad and that made things easy for us. I thought it had something to do with the pressure of competing at home.”
Zhang also picked up a gold medal in the women’s individual 10m air pistol event with 202.2 points. South Korea’s Jung was second with 201.3 points and India’s Shweta Chaudhry took the bronze with 176.4.
The Chinese men’s team took the gold in the 50m pistol event with ease, scoring 1,692 points — a 20-point margin over second-place South Korea.
Rai spoiled China’s chances at a sweep of the golds, winning the men’s individual 50m pistol.
The Indian soldier overshadowed the bigger names in the field as he continued a fine run this season that has seen him win six international medals in the 10m and 50m events, including individual golds at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the World Cup.
Rai held off Hoang Phuong Nguyen of Vietnam in a thrilling final. He trailed by just 0.7 points before taking the lead on the penultimate shot and finished with a score of 186.2 to Nguyen’s 183.4.
“It has been a long and strenuous season for me, but I was determined to win gold once it came to the last shot,” Rai said. “All of it has come so fast and it will take time for it to sink in.”
China’s Wang Zhiwei was third and two-time Olympic champion and world record holder Jin Jong-oh of South Korea finished seventh.
Additional reporting by CNA
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