Olympic champion Yang Ji-in claimed the crown today in the final of the women's 25m pistol, finishing strong after a tense tussle with China's Yao Qianxun for the win at the 2025 ISSF World Championship Rifle/Pistol in Cairo, Egypt.
After a nail-biting fight for the bronze medal, Esha Singh from India joined them on the podium.
Qualification
Republic of Korea's Yang would always be considered one of the favourites, a year removed from standing at the top of the podium in this event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games - and she lived up to the expectations in qualification, scoring 591 to go three clear of Yao Qianxun and Sevval Ilayda Tarhan of Turkey on. This came after scoring a perfect 200 in her third series, as well as scoring a perfect 300 across all rapid fire shots.
Haniyeh Rostamiyan of Iran and Esha Singh would then come in on 587, ahead of Singh's teammate Manu Bhaker and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Kim Hyon-suk on 586. The last spot came between two French athletes who both scored 585 with 22 perfect shots on the X. In the end, Mathilde Lamolle, a finalist at Tokyo 2020 and the 2022 World Championship where she finished seventh in both, eliminated Camille Jedrzejewski, the Olympic silver medallist. A score of 196 in her final series to Jedrzejewski's 195 was what would separate the two.
Jedrzejewski's exit was not the only surprise. 10m air pistol Olympic champion Oh Ye-jin just missed out in 11th, with Hungarian Veronika Major unable to break through on this occasion either in 13th. On 2025 alone, many would have fancied Sun Yujie of China, who was undefeated in senior competition coming into this after winning three ISSF World Cups. Unfortunately for her, a difficult middle section where she scored 93 on precision, took her out of contention as she finished 19th.
After a nail-biting fight for the bronze medal, Esha Singh from India joined them on the podium.
Qualification
Republic of Korea's Yang would always be considered one of the favourites, a year removed from standing at the top of the podium in this event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games - and she lived up to the expectations in qualification, scoring 591 to go three clear of Yao Qianxun and Sevval Ilayda Tarhan of Turkey on. This came after scoring a perfect 200 in her third series, as well as scoring a perfect 300 across all rapid fire shots.
Haniyeh Rostamiyan of Iran and Esha Singh would then come in on 587, ahead of Singh's teammate Manu Bhaker and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Kim Hyon-suk on 586. The last spot came between two French athletes who both scored 585 with 22 perfect shots on the X. In the end, Mathilde Lamolle, a finalist at Tokyo 2020 and the 2022 World Championship where she finished seventh in both, eliminated Camille Jedrzejewski, the Olympic silver medallist. A score of 196 in her final series to Jedrzejewski's 195 was what would separate the two.
Jedrzejewski's exit was not the only surprise. 10m air pistol Olympic champion Oh Ye-jin just missed out in 11th, with Hungarian Veronika Major unable to break through on this occasion either in 13th. On 2025 alone, many would have fancied Sun Yujie of China, who was undefeated in senior competition coming into this after winning three ISSF World Cups. Unfortunately for her, a difficult middle section where she scored 93 on precision, took her out of contention as she finished 19th.
Yang Ji-in and Yao Qianxun were locked in a close battle for goldThe Final
Yang Ji-in was cool from the start - being the only athlete to successfully hit all of her opening five targets. From her first 10, she scored nine, followed by the Indian duo of Esha Singh and Manu Bhaker, as well as Mathilde Lamolle. However, the Korean would miss two more times, as Yao Qianxun struck perfectly. At the end of the first competition stage, Yang, Yao and Singh would all sit on 12, followed by Lamolle on 11 and Bhaker on 10.
Sevval Ilayda Tarhan had a difficult stage, missing three of those last five shots to sit at the back on six - one ahead of Haniyeh Rostamiyan, who trailed Kim Hyon-suk by one herself. Rostamiyan would miss four of her next five, but so did the Turkish athlete who exited in eighth. Conversely, Kim scored three to take a three-point lead over the Iranian, but would go on to miss four of her next five as her opponent scored four, to draw them level. Rostamiyan would win the shoot-off, but after surviving elimination, she was four behind fifth-placed Lamolle and would leave in sixth after the third elimination series.
Back at the front, Yang and Yao were matching each other. They would score four each to remain tied before the Korean went two ahead with a perfect five. That result would then reverse the next time as Yao scored five to Yang's 24.
While this battle for gold was ongoing, the chasing three lost contact. Bhaker would capitalise on three misses each for Singh and Lamolle to go within one of Yao, but then scored just once in the sixth series. It meant all three were back level on 19 and effectively were treating the next five shots as a shoot-off.
Yang Ji-in was cool from the start - being the only athlete to successfully hit all of her opening five targets. From her first 10, she scored nine, followed by the Indian duo of Esha Singh and Manu Bhaker, as well as Mathilde Lamolle. However, the Korean would miss two more times, as Yao Qianxun struck perfectly. At the end of the first competition stage, Yang, Yao and Singh would all sit on 12, followed by Lamolle on 11 and Bhaker on 10.
Sevval Ilayda Tarhan had a difficult stage, missing three of those last five shots to sit at the back on six - one ahead of Haniyeh Rostamiyan, who trailed Kim Hyon-suk by one herself. Rostamiyan would miss four of her next five, but so did the Turkish athlete who exited in eighth. Conversely, Kim scored three to take a three-point lead over the Iranian, but would go on to miss four of her next five as her opponent scored four, to draw them level. Rostamiyan would win the shoot-off, but after surviving elimination, she was four behind fifth-placed Lamolle and would leave in sixth after the third elimination series.
Back at the front, Yang and Yao were matching each other. They would score four each to remain tied before the Korean went two ahead with a perfect five. That result would then reverse the next time as Yao scored five to Yang's 24.
While this battle for gold was ongoing, the chasing three lost contact. Bhaker would capitalise on three misses each for Singh and Lamolle to go within one of Yao, but then scored just once in the sixth series. It meant all three were back level on 19 and effectively were treating the next five shots as a shoot-off.
Tight Fights for Medals as Yang Goes Perfect at the Right Time
Yang and Yao were matched again when they both scored three to move onto 27. At this stage, Singh, Lamolle and Bhaker would all score four to go onto 23. It meant this de-facto shoot-off was now an official one. It was Bhaker who would miss out and depart in fifth.
The top two scored four again to bring themselves onto 31 and Singh would match them in the series. Lamolle would score three, exiting just shy of a medal by a single shot.
The next five would determine the direction of the medals. Singh, requiring an outstanding score and an equally outstanding collapse from the top two to remain in the competition, cleared three, the same as her Chinese opponent and would take the bronze medal.
But Yang shot five for five to take a two-shot lead and getting that necessary cushion when it was most needed. She maintained that gap as both scored four in the final series, with Yang defeating Yao for the gold by a 40-38 margin.
Adding to her individual gold, Yang Ji-in won the team medal with her Republic of Korea teammates Oh and Nam Da-jung on 1757. China's Yao, Chen Jia and Sun Yujie were second on 1753, followed by the French trio of Lamolle, Jedrzejewski and Heloise Fourre.
Yang and Yao were matched again when they both scored three to move onto 27. At this stage, Singh, Lamolle and Bhaker would all score four to go onto 23. It meant this de-facto shoot-off was now an official one. It was Bhaker who would miss out and depart in fifth.
The top two scored four again to bring themselves onto 31 and Singh would match them in the series. Lamolle would score three, exiting just shy of a medal by a single shot.
The next five would determine the direction of the medals. Singh, requiring an outstanding score and an equally outstanding collapse from the top two to remain in the competition, cleared three, the same as her Chinese opponent and would take the bronze medal.
But Yang shot five for five to take a two-shot lead and getting that necessary cushion when it was most needed. She maintained that gap as both scored four in the final series, with Yang defeating Yao for the gold by a 40-38 margin.
Adding to her individual gold, Yang Ji-in won the team medal with her Republic of Korea teammates Oh and Nam Da-jung on 1757. China's Yao, Chen Jia and Sun Yujie were second on 1753, followed by the French trio of Lamolle, Jedrzejewski and Heloise Fourre.