Wang Zifei and Sheng Lihao delivered an out-of-this-world performance to claim the gold medal in the 10m air rifle mixed team event, beating their Chinese teammates Peng Xinlu and Wang Honghao in a high-quality final.
A 17-3 score line may not fully reflect Peng and Wang's performance, but showed the strength of the winners as Sheng defended this title he won two years ago in Baku.
Turkey's Damla Kose and Mert Nalbant defeated Italy's Carlotta Salafia and Danilo Sollazzo 16-10 in an exciting bronze medal match.
Qualification
Ever an indication that the gold medal match was anyone's to win, China's two teams went toe-to-toe at the top, with the duos of Peng Xinlu and Wang Honghao; and Wang Zifei and Sheng Lihao both scoring a combined total of 634.9.
Both teams boasted the highest men's and women's total too. Wang Honghao had the highest men's total of 318.8, accompanied by Peng with 316.1. Wang Zifei had the highest score overall with a total of 318.9, with Sheng scoring 316.0.
On her ISSF World Championship debut, Turkey's Damla Kose continued to have a competition to remember, as she scored the third-highest total overall to finish as the third team with Mert Nalbant on 634.2. Their opponents in the bronze medal match would be Carlotta Salafia and men's world record holder Danilo Sollazzo of Italy, who scored 633.9. They narrowly pipped the American duo of Mary Tucker and Peter Fiori by 0.2 points to put themselves in contention for a medal.
A 17-3 score line may not fully reflect Peng and Wang's performance, but showed the strength of the winners as Sheng defended this title he won two years ago in Baku.
Turkey's Damla Kose and Mert Nalbant defeated Italy's Carlotta Salafia and Danilo Sollazzo 16-10 in an exciting bronze medal match.
Qualification
Ever an indication that the gold medal match was anyone's to win, China's two teams went toe-to-toe at the top, with the duos of Peng Xinlu and Wang Honghao; and Wang Zifei and Sheng Lihao both scoring a combined total of 634.9.
Both teams boasted the highest men's and women's total too. Wang Honghao had the highest men's total of 318.8, accompanied by Peng with 316.1. Wang Zifei had the highest score overall with a total of 318.9, with Sheng scoring 316.0.
On her ISSF World Championship debut, Turkey's Damla Kose continued to have a competition to remember, as she scored the third-highest total overall to finish as the third team with Mert Nalbant on 634.2. Their opponents in the bronze medal match would be Carlotta Salafia and men's world record holder Danilo Sollazzo of Italy, who scored 633.9. They narrowly pipped the American duo of Mary Tucker and Peter Fiori by 0.2 points to put themselves in contention for a medal.
Peng Xinlu and Wang Honghao claimed silver in the mixed team 10m air rifle eventGold Medal Match
Wang Zifei and Sheng Lihao is a team that would be on many people's dream lineups in the 10m air rifle mixed team event. Wang won all three ISSF World Cups she competed in this season, before picking up the silver medal in the women's event yesterday.
For the Olympic champion Sheng, he had picked up his second world bronze individually and looked to defend his mixed team world title.
Peng Xinlu, the women's world record holder and winner in Ningbo teamed up with Wang Honghao, who finished fifth in the men's final yesterday.
Both teams were successful in the opening two series, but from there, Wang and Sheng started to display a superb standard. In the following series, Wang scored 10.9 and Sheng 10.7 - the first of five series where they would score 21.5 and above.
The next four series saw Peng and Wang score 21.0 on three occasions, only to be outdone on each occasion. The highlight for Wang and Sheng was scoring a tremendous 21.7 from a possible 21.8 to extend their lead to 10-2. With the teams so close together, it was only a matter of time before a tie would come - and finally Peng and Wang scored again after both sides scored an impressive 21.5.
But from there, it was momentum back to the leaders. Both Wang and Sheng scored 10.8s followed by a 10.9 for Wang and 10.6 for the Olympic champion. They signed off in style with 10.7s, thrashing their compatriots 17-3: a score that did not truly reflect the strong performance of Peng and Wang.
Wang Zifei and Sheng Lihao is a team that would be on many people's dream lineups in the 10m air rifle mixed team event. Wang won all three ISSF World Cups she competed in this season, before picking up the silver medal in the women's event yesterday.
For the Olympic champion Sheng, he had picked up his second world bronze individually and looked to defend his mixed team world title.
Peng Xinlu, the women's world record holder and winner in Ningbo teamed up with Wang Honghao, who finished fifth in the men's final yesterday.
Both teams were successful in the opening two series, but from there, Wang and Sheng started to display a superb standard. In the following series, Wang scored 10.9 and Sheng 10.7 - the first of five series where they would score 21.5 and above.
The next four series saw Peng and Wang score 21.0 on three occasions, only to be outdone on each occasion. The highlight for Wang and Sheng was scoring a tremendous 21.7 from a possible 21.8 to extend their lead to 10-2. With the teams so close together, it was only a matter of time before a tie would come - and finally Peng and Wang scored again after both sides scored an impressive 21.5.
But from there, it was momentum back to the leaders. Both Wang and Sheng scored 10.8s followed by a 10.9 for Wang and 10.6 for the Olympic champion. They signed off in style with 10.7s, thrashing their compatriots 17-3: a score that did not truly reflect the strong performance of Peng and Wang.
Turkey's underdogs Damla Kose and Mert Nalbant secured the bronze medalBronze Medal Match
Damla Kose was the underdog coming into yesterday's women's final, but could not come away with a medal. Today, she looked to change that with her teammate Mert Nalbant. Prior to Cairo, Kose had never been in an ISSF final, while Nalbant's only appearance was finishing sixth at the 2023 ISSF World Cup in Baku.
Danilo Sollazzo carried hopes for Italy, having broken the men's world record in Ningbo in September. The 22-year-old looked to make up for missing the men's final yesterday with his teammate Carlotta Salafia, who he won bronze with in Ningbo.
Both teams scored in the opening two series, before Turkey pulled a lead. Kose and Nalbant led the scoring simultaneously for their team, holding off song strong scores from the Italians, particularly from Sollazzo. But it was also Sollazzo who made a slip that could have brought the match back to a two-point gap. Salafia scored a tremendous 10.7 and Sollazzo dropped a 9.6. It gave Turkey an 8-2 lead that became 10-2 when Kose scored the only 10.9 of the match, backed by a 10.6 from Nalbant.
But then came an Italian charge. A solid 21.0 from Turkey was outdone by a 21.6 score from the Italians who both shot 10.8s. Sollazzo came alive again and was integral to Italy bringing it back to 10-8 with three shots of 10.7 and over. Turkey snuck the next series to retain a four-point gap, but the Italians were not done. Despite a strong round from Nalbant, Kose could only muster a 10.0 and Sollazzo scored high again. It was 12-10 and Turkey needed to push on to win the bronze.
They would do so as Kose recovered from a difficult middle part of the match to rally with back-to-back 10.7s as Nalbant scored consecutive 10.5s. While Salafia and Sollazzo performed well in the next two series, they could not match their opponents. Turkey took the bronze medal by a 16-10 margin.
Damla Kose was the underdog coming into yesterday's women's final, but could not come away with a medal. Today, she looked to change that with her teammate Mert Nalbant. Prior to Cairo, Kose had never been in an ISSF final, while Nalbant's only appearance was finishing sixth at the 2023 ISSF World Cup in Baku.
Danilo Sollazzo carried hopes for Italy, having broken the men's world record in Ningbo in September. The 22-year-old looked to make up for missing the men's final yesterday with his teammate Carlotta Salafia, who he won bronze with in Ningbo.
Both teams scored in the opening two series, before Turkey pulled a lead. Kose and Nalbant led the scoring simultaneously for their team, holding off song strong scores from the Italians, particularly from Sollazzo. But it was also Sollazzo who made a slip that could have brought the match back to a two-point gap. Salafia scored a tremendous 10.7 and Sollazzo dropped a 9.6. It gave Turkey an 8-2 lead that became 10-2 when Kose scored the only 10.9 of the match, backed by a 10.6 from Nalbant.
But then came an Italian charge. A solid 21.0 from Turkey was outdone by a 21.6 score from the Italians who both shot 10.8s. Sollazzo came alive again and was integral to Italy bringing it back to 10-8 with three shots of 10.7 and over. Turkey snuck the next series to retain a four-point gap, but the Italians were not done. Despite a strong round from Nalbant, Kose could only muster a 10.0 and Sollazzo scored high again. It was 12-10 and Turkey needed to push on to win the bronze.
They would do so as Kose recovered from a difficult middle part of the match to rally with back-to-back 10.7s as Nalbant scored consecutive 10.5s. While Salafia and Sollazzo performed well in the next two series, they could not match their opponents. Turkey took the bronze medal by a 16-10 margin.
What the Athletes Had to Say
Sheng Lihao said: "Yesterday I won the bronze medal and I was very hesitated in yesterday's matches so I learned from this in today's competition field and I was confident and decisive today.
"For the past results and achievements I try to forget these titles so that I can focus on every match and stage that I'm in and pay more attention to that."
Peng Xinlu said: "During this match I found many weaknesses within myself and next time I hope we can make progress to deal with these problems of mine."
Wang Honghao said: "Yesterday's match I was very nervous and the more confidence has built since then so in today's stage I felt more confident and I am very proud of myself."
Damla Kose said: "It was very exciting and I'm very thankful for them. The loud crowd makes me more nervous and excited. It was my dream and I'm very glad to win a bronze at the World Championships. Thank you for everybody who is supporting us and thank you to my teammate.
"I'm so proud for my country and my team. I'm so calm compared to yesterday. I felt so close to a medal yesterday and that makes it feel normal. It made me more relaxed."
All information and results from the 2025 ISSF World Championship Rifle/Pistol can be found here.
Sheng Lihao said: "Yesterday I won the bronze medal and I was very hesitated in yesterday's matches so I learned from this in today's competition field and I was confident and decisive today.
"For the past results and achievements I try to forget these titles so that I can focus on every match and stage that I'm in and pay more attention to that."
Peng Xinlu said: "During this match I found many weaknesses within myself and next time I hope we can make progress to deal with these problems of mine."
Wang Honghao said: "Yesterday's match I was very nervous and the more confidence has built since then so in today's stage I felt more confident and I am very proud of myself."
Damla Kose said: "It was very exciting and I'm very thankful for them. The loud crowd makes me more nervous and excited. It was my dream and I'm very glad to win a bronze at the World Championships. Thank you for everybody who is supporting us and thank you to my teammate.
"I'm so proud for my country and my team. I'm so calm compared to yesterday. I felt so close to a medal yesterday and that makes it feel normal. It made me more relaxed."
All information and results from the 2025 ISSF World Championship Rifle/Pistol can be found here.