China expectedly dominated in pistol events in the first finals of the Asian Shooting Championship, taking place in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.
Hu Kai, who has been unstoppable in the men's 10m air pistol event during the ISSF World Cup season, continued his winning form, with gold in the continental competition too. After a muted start, he started to find his form as the eliminations took place, overtaking the early leader Amir Joharikhou of Iran and Hong Su-hyeon of the Republic of Korea, taking the lead with six shots to go. His consistency then led to a sizable gap to Hong, winning with a total of 241.6 to the Korean's 239.0. Joharikhou won the bronze.
China's Hu, You Changjie and Zhang Yifan won the team gold medal with a total of 1744. India were second on 1735, just ahead of Iran with 1733.
The women's final was won by 17-year-old Ma Qianke, showing another example of China's youth development. She has twice been on the ISSF World Cup podium in the mixed team event, including winning gold in Buenos Aires, but this achievement is clearly her best to date.
Facing a star-studded line-up that included Olympic 25m rapid fire champion Yang Ji-in and India's Manu Bhaker, she would have to be on top form to achieve glory. A strong start in the first competition stage gave her a commanding lead heading into the elimination stage, followed by Bhaker and her teammate Zeng Zhuwenxi. While Zeng would fall away, Bhaker was persistent and so was the improving Yang.
However, Ma's lead rarely came under threat. Back-to-back shots of 9.6 and 9.2 made this lead assailable, especially after the teenager scored a 9.0 in the next series too. There was now a gap of 1.2 to Yang, down from over 4 points, just four shots ago. But Ma regained her composure, keeping Yang and Bhaker, the silver and bronze medallists, at arm's length. She finished with 243.2 to Yang's 241.6.
Hu Kai, who has been unstoppable in the men's 10m air pistol event during the ISSF World Cup season, continued his winning form, with gold in the continental competition too. After a muted start, he started to find his form as the eliminations took place, overtaking the early leader Amir Joharikhou of Iran and Hong Su-hyeon of the Republic of Korea, taking the lead with six shots to go. His consistency then led to a sizable gap to Hong, winning with a total of 241.6 to the Korean's 239.0. Joharikhou won the bronze.
China's Hu, You Changjie and Zhang Yifan won the team gold medal with a total of 1744. India were second on 1735, just ahead of Iran with 1733.
The women's final was won by 17-year-old Ma Qianke, showing another example of China's youth development. She has twice been on the ISSF World Cup podium in the mixed team event, including winning gold in Buenos Aires, but this achievement is clearly her best to date.
Facing a star-studded line-up that included Olympic 25m rapid fire champion Yang Ji-in and India's Manu Bhaker, she would have to be on top form to achieve glory. A strong start in the first competition stage gave her a commanding lead heading into the elimination stage, followed by Bhaker and her teammate Zeng Zhuwenxi. While Zeng would fall away, Bhaker was persistent and so was the improving Yang.
However, Ma's lead rarely came under threat. Back-to-back shots of 9.6 and 9.2 made this lead assailable, especially after the teenager scored a 9.0 in the next series too. There was now a gap of 1.2 to Yang, down from over 4 points, just four shots ago. But Ma regained her composure, keeping Yang and Bhaker, the silver and bronze medallists, at arm's length. She finished with 243.2 to Yang's 241.6.
Ma Qianke and Zhang Yifan became mixed team Asian championsWith three finalists, China cruised to the team title too thanks to Yao Qianxun, Ma Qianke and Zeng Zhuwenxi for a new world record of 1740. Republic of Korea performed well too with a score of 1731 for silver, followed by India narrowly behind on 1730.
Ma Qianke added another gold medal to her name when she teamed up with Zhang Yifan to win the mixed team 10m air pistol event. Excelling in qualification, they met Yoo Hyun-young and Lee Won-ho of the Republic of Korea in the gold medal match.
A strong start came the way of the Koreans, who had built a 12-8 lead. However, Ma and Zhang remained composed - channeling the form that saw them take gold in Buenos Aires earlier this season. Four successive series victories gave the pair the win, and the Asian title. The bronze medals went to India's Suruchi Singh and Saurabh Chaudhary and Iran's Haniyeh Rostamiyan and Vahid Golkhandan.
China continued the medal rush in the women's skeet when Jiang Yiting and Che Yufei had a one-two finish, with Jiang equalling the junior world record. It was tight betwwen her and Che into the last 20 shots. First, Jiang fell behind by one with misses on targets 52 and 54, but consistency came for Jiang and Che missed two of her last 10 shots. The pair finished on 57 and 56 respectively. Winning bronze was Anastassiya Molchanova from Kazakhstan. The Chinese team of Jiang, Che and Gao Jinmei also won the team event for a total of 342, followed by Kazakhstan and India on 339 and 329.
Anant Jeet Singh Naruka was the first non-Chinese winner in senior competition when he took gold in the men's skeet. The Indian was neck-and-neck with Mansour Al-Rashidi of Kuwait throughout, only edging ahead when the Kuwaiti missed a target fifth from the end. They finished on 57 and 56 respectively. Ali Ahmed Al-Ishaq of Qatar won the bronze medal.
Kuwait would win the team title though - with Al-Rashidi joined Abdullah Al-Rashidi and Abdulaziz Al-Saad for a total of 353, just ahead of the Republic of Korea on 351 and Qatar on 346.
Ma Qianke added another gold medal to her name when she teamed up with Zhang Yifan to win the mixed team 10m air pistol event. Excelling in qualification, they met Yoo Hyun-young and Lee Won-ho of the Republic of Korea in the gold medal match.
A strong start came the way of the Koreans, who had built a 12-8 lead. However, Ma and Zhang remained composed - channeling the form that saw them take gold in Buenos Aires earlier this season. Four successive series victories gave the pair the win, and the Asian title. The bronze medals went to India's Suruchi Singh and Saurabh Chaudhary and Iran's Haniyeh Rostamiyan and Vahid Golkhandan.
China continued the medal rush in the women's skeet when Jiang Yiting and Che Yufei had a one-two finish, with Jiang equalling the junior world record. It was tight betwwen her and Che into the last 20 shots. First, Jiang fell behind by one with misses on targets 52 and 54, but consistency came for Jiang and Che missed two of her last 10 shots. The pair finished on 57 and 56 respectively. Winning bronze was Anastassiya Molchanova from Kazakhstan. The Chinese team of Jiang, Che and Gao Jinmei also won the team event for a total of 342, followed by Kazakhstan and India on 339 and 329.
Anant Jeet Singh Naruka was the first non-Chinese winner in senior competition when he took gold in the men's skeet. The Indian was neck-and-neck with Mansour Al-Rashidi of Kuwait throughout, only edging ahead when the Kuwaiti missed a target fifth from the end. They finished on 57 and 56 respectively. Ali Ahmed Al-Ishaq of Qatar won the bronze medal.
Kuwait would win the team title though - with Al-Rashidi joined Abdullah Al-Rashidi and Abdulaziz Al-Saad for a total of 353, just ahead of the Republic of Korea on 351 and Qatar on 346.