China's Liu Yukun added a world title to his Olympic title from last year, overcoming a late challenge from India's Aishwary Tomar for the victory in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final at the 2025 ISSF World Championship Rifle/Pistol in Cairo, Egypt.
Close together in the elimination series, Liu managed to grab the lead back in the final shot for the gold medal. French youngster Romain Aufrere got himself onto the podium for the bronze medal.
Qualification
Aishwary Tomar had a near-perfect start, equalling the qualification world record. In both the kneeling and prone sections, he scored perfect 200s, and 197 in the standing for a total of 597. Norway's Ole Martin Halvorsen was second on 596.
France's Romain Aufrere was third on 594, followed by Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway and India's Niraj Kumar on 592. China's Olympic champion Liu Yukun was sixth, with Sweden's Marcus Madsen and Czechia's Filip Nepejchal taking the final spots one point behind. China's Zhao Wenyu just missed out after being completely tied with the Czech, who scored better in the standing section.
Ukraine's Serhii Kulish and Jiri Privratsky of Czechia just missed out too in 10th and 11th. Hungary's Istvan Peni had a difficult day too, finishing 43rd.
Close together in the elimination series, Liu managed to grab the lead back in the final shot for the gold medal. French youngster Romain Aufrere got himself onto the podium for the bronze medal.
Qualification
Aishwary Tomar had a near-perfect start, equalling the qualification world record. In both the kneeling and prone sections, he scored perfect 200s, and 197 in the standing for a total of 597. Norway's Ole Martin Halvorsen was second on 596.
France's Romain Aufrere was third on 594, followed by Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway and India's Niraj Kumar on 592. China's Olympic champion Liu Yukun was sixth, with Sweden's Marcus Madsen and Czechia's Filip Nepejchal taking the final spots one point behind. China's Zhao Wenyu just missed out after being completely tied with the Czech, who scored better in the standing section.
Ukraine's Serhii Kulish and Jiri Privratsky of Czechia just missed out too in 10th and 11th. Hungary's Istvan Peni had a difficult day too, finishing 43rd.
The Final
With the three positions, some athletes fare better in kneeling, prone or standing. For Liu, it was the kneeling section, who charged ahead with a score of 157.5, followed by Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway on 156.6 and Romain Aufrere of France on 156.4.
Conversely, Marcus Madsen, who was competing in his first World Championship final, could not keep pace, finishing with 152.1, with Filip Nepejchal scoring 153.9 and Aishwary Tomar in sixth with 154.8.
While Liu excelled in the kneeling, Tomar came back in the prone. The gap between them went from 2.7 to 0.2 as the Indian was clear of the rest in those 15 shots. Aufrere and Hegg were third and fourth in the standings, and Ole Martin Halvorsen was fifth.
With two eliminated after the first two standing stages, Madsen and Nepejchal sat in the bottom spots. While the Swede was unable to move out of eighth, the Czech moved into sixth with the best 10 shots of anyone in the field, a combined total of 103.3. On the other side, Halvorsen sunk two places with a total of 100.6, dropping into seventh and out of the final.
It was not a good period for his Norwegian teammate Hegg either. He tied with Halvorsen for the lowest score in this period, taking him from close to the medals to more than three points off the lead of Liu, who sat 0.2 ahead of Tomar.
With the three positions, some athletes fare better in kneeling, prone or standing. For Liu, it was the kneeling section, who charged ahead with a score of 157.5, followed by Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway on 156.6 and Romain Aufrere of France on 156.4.
Conversely, Marcus Madsen, who was competing in his first World Championship final, could not keep pace, finishing with 152.1, with Filip Nepejchal scoring 153.9 and Aishwary Tomar in sixth with 154.8.
While Liu excelled in the kneeling, Tomar came back in the prone. The gap between them went from 2.7 to 0.2 as the Indian was clear of the rest in those 15 shots. Aufrere and Hegg were third and fourth in the standings, and Ole Martin Halvorsen was fifth.
With two eliminated after the first two standing stages, Madsen and Nepejchal sat in the bottom spots. While the Swede was unable to move out of eighth, the Czech moved into sixth with the best 10 shots of anyone in the field, a combined total of 103.3. On the other side, Halvorsen sunk two places with a total of 100.6, dropping into seventh and out of the final.
It was not a good period for his Norwegian teammate Hegg either. He tied with Halvorsen for the lowest score in this period, taking him from close to the medals to more than three points off the lead of Liu, who sat 0.2 ahead of Tomar.
Liu and Tomar Drama Dominates Single Shot Section
Five single shots would determine the winner of the gold medal, and Liu's first effort - a 10.6 - would usually be enough to maintain his lead, however, Tomar's 10.8 drew them level. This first shot would signal that the race was down to two, as Aufrere scored 9.8, leaving him 2.7 behind. Hegg was in no-man's land himself and remained fourth with a 9.9.
Niraj Kumar, who remained in the middle of the pack throughout, scored 10.1 to bring the deficit to the Norwegian down to one. Nepejchal needed a maximum score to leapfrog the Indian, but a 10.0 meant he exited in sixth.
Kumar would finish in style, scoring 10.7, but Hegg's 10.2 would keep him in the competition - albeit 1.9 points behind third-placed Aufrere, who shot best of everyone with a 10.8. The top two scored the lowest - but Liu's 10.0 bettered Tomar's 9.9, giving him the smallest advantage.
Much like the Indian who left before him, Hegg's exit seemed inevitable and the Norwegian left in fourth with a 10.7, unable to match the bronze he won here three years ago. That medal looked to be Aufrere's, whose 10.0 kept him safe, but notably 1.7 adrift of Tomar.
The Indian scored 9.9 again and with the Chinese leader hitting the target for 10.4, the gap was now 0.6. No major slip-ups came in the elimination for bronze, meaning the two athletes, who were neck-and-neck since the conclusion of the prone section, were now locked in against each other for the gold.
In that penultimate shot, Liu dropped a 9.7, while Tomar scored 10.4 - giving the Indian a lead of 0.1 into the last round. Tomar shot first - a 9.8. Liu would follow, scoring 10.1 and regaining the lead that he looked to have momentarily squandered. The Olympic champion was now the world champion.
Tomar, the 2021 world junior champion, tasted success on the senior stage alongside 2023 10m and 50m world junior champion Aufrere - showing just how strong junior development has come along.
France were victorious in the team event, as Aufrere, Lucas Kryzs and Brian Baudouin scored 1771. Silver went to Halvorsen, Hegg and Jens Oestli, who scored a total of 1768, while Switzerland's Fabio Wyrsch, Jan Lochbihler and Christoph Duerr were third on 1764, defeating Italy on countback.
Five single shots would determine the winner of the gold medal, and Liu's first effort - a 10.6 - would usually be enough to maintain his lead, however, Tomar's 10.8 drew them level. This first shot would signal that the race was down to two, as Aufrere scored 9.8, leaving him 2.7 behind. Hegg was in no-man's land himself and remained fourth with a 9.9.
Niraj Kumar, who remained in the middle of the pack throughout, scored 10.1 to bring the deficit to the Norwegian down to one. Nepejchal needed a maximum score to leapfrog the Indian, but a 10.0 meant he exited in sixth.
Kumar would finish in style, scoring 10.7, but Hegg's 10.2 would keep him in the competition - albeit 1.9 points behind third-placed Aufrere, who shot best of everyone with a 10.8. The top two scored the lowest - but Liu's 10.0 bettered Tomar's 9.9, giving him the smallest advantage.
Much like the Indian who left before him, Hegg's exit seemed inevitable and the Norwegian left in fourth with a 10.7, unable to match the bronze he won here three years ago. That medal looked to be Aufrere's, whose 10.0 kept him safe, but notably 1.7 adrift of Tomar.
The Indian scored 9.9 again and with the Chinese leader hitting the target for 10.4, the gap was now 0.6. No major slip-ups came in the elimination for bronze, meaning the two athletes, who were neck-and-neck since the conclusion of the prone section, were now locked in against each other for the gold.
In that penultimate shot, Liu dropped a 9.7, while Tomar scored 10.4 - giving the Indian a lead of 0.1 into the last round. Tomar shot first - a 9.8. Liu would follow, scoring 10.1 and regaining the lead that he looked to have momentarily squandered. The Olympic champion was now the world champion.
Tomar, the 2021 world junior champion, tasted success on the senior stage alongside 2023 10m and 50m world junior champion Aufrere - showing just how strong junior development has come along.
France were victorious in the team event, as Aufrere, Lucas Kryzs and Brian Baudouin scored 1771. Silver went to Halvorsen, Hegg and Jens Oestli, who scored a total of 1768, while Switzerland's Fabio Wyrsch, Jan Lochbihler and Christoph Duerr were third on 1764, defeating Italy on countback.
What the Athletes Had to Say
Liu Yukun said: "I'm ready to go home and I will enjoy my vacation. I'm quite rusty in competition and not as familiar with the competition now, but luckily to my surprise I can match my friends from different country.
"It is not on my clothes now, but I'm lucky enough."
Aishwary Tomar said: "It was good. In the qualification the range situation was a little difficult because of the wind, but still managed to shoot but I'm still very happy because I shot the world record of 597. It was one of my best scores. In the final I was also very happy. I wanted to win the gold medal but because of some shots I lost it - I'm still happy for the silver.
"I was just thinking [in that final shot] I want to be a world champion and that's it - no other thoughts.
"This is also a huge achievement. We all want to win a gold medal for our own country and hopefully I will make my country of India proud next time with a gold medal.
Romain Aufrere said: "I'm feeling a bit hot to be honest because the crowd was huge and I had a lot of stress. It's my first World Championship final in seniors.
"It has been a challenge for me to take this bronze medal because the last time I was there I won the silver medal. I wanted to grab something more from Cairo and I think today I've done that and I'm very proud of that.
"My dream is to win an Olympic gold medal and that's a dream that I will focus on for LA 2028 and I will do my best to get this."
Liu Yukun said: "I'm ready to go home and I will enjoy my vacation. I'm quite rusty in competition and not as familiar with the competition now, but luckily to my surprise I can match my friends from different country.
"It is not on my clothes now, but I'm lucky enough."
Aishwary Tomar said: "It was good. In the qualification the range situation was a little difficult because of the wind, but still managed to shoot but I'm still very happy because I shot the world record of 597. It was one of my best scores. In the final I was also very happy. I wanted to win the gold medal but because of some shots I lost it - I'm still happy for the silver.
"I was just thinking [in that final shot] I want to be a world champion and that's it - no other thoughts.
"This is also a huge achievement. We all want to win a gold medal for our own country and hopefully I will make my country of India proud next time with a gold medal.
Romain Aufrere said: "I'm feeling a bit hot to be honest because the crowd was huge and I had a lot of stress. It's my first World Championship final in seniors.
"It has been a challenge for me to take this bronze medal because the last time I was there I won the silver medal. I wanted to grab something more from Cairo and I think today I've done that and I'm very proud of that.
"My dream is to win an Olympic gold medal and that's a dream that I will focus on for LA 2028 and I will do my best to get this."