Olympic champion Li Yuehong of China held firm to hold off any challenges in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol at the 2025 ISSF World Cup Final in Doha, Qatar, winning the gold medal in a final that saw a five-way shoot-off.
It was his first appearance on the international stage since the 36-year-old won the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi one year ago.
Emerging from the rest of the contenders were India's Anish and the world champion Clement Bessaguet of France, for the silver and bronze medals.
Qualification
Fresh off the back of his world title, France's Clement Bessaguet was the top qualifier with a total of 590, with Olympic champion Li Yuehong of China second on 587. Germany's Florian Peter and Su Lianbofan of China scored 586 and 585.
Anish of India and Emanuel Mueller of Germany qualified with a total of 583 and Czechia's Matej Rampula too on 580. Vijayveer Sidhu of India took the final spot with a total of 579, beating Tokyo 2020 champion France's Jean Quiquampoix on precision with 24 perfect shots to his 19. Ukraine's Maksym Horodynets and Mohammed Nasser A A Al-Yafei were 10th and 11th.
It was his first appearance on the international stage since the 36-year-old won the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi one year ago.
Emerging from the rest of the contenders were India's Anish and the world champion Clement Bessaguet of France, for the silver and bronze medals.
Qualification
Fresh off the back of his world title, France's Clement Bessaguet was the top qualifier with a total of 590, with Olympic champion Li Yuehong of China second on 587. Germany's Florian Peter and Su Lianbofan of China scored 586 and 585.
Anish of India and Emanuel Mueller of Germany qualified with a total of 583 and Czechia's Matej Rampula too on 580. Vijayveer Sidhu of India took the final spot with a total of 579, beating Tokyo 2020 champion France's Jean Quiquampoix on precision with 24 perfect shots to his 19. Ukraine's Maksym Horodynets and Mohammed Nasser A A Al-Yafei were 10th and 11th.
The Final
As the world champion and top qualifier, Clement Bessaguet had form on his side heading into the final. He started well, with four from five in the first series, but two misses brought him two behind the early leader, Li Yuehong on nine.
Florian Peter, Vijayveer Sidhu and Su Lianbofan all sat on eight, with Anish and Emanuel Mueller joining Bessaguet on seven. Having scored four in his first series, Matej Rampula would score just once in the second, putting him two adrift before the first of the elimination series.
During this new format, which sees eight athletes instead of six as previous, two athletes would exit the competition after shot 15. Li ensured he would remain with four from five to stay top on 13, but he would be joined by Sidhu, who had a perfect five from five. These two would be the only athletes safe from elimination, as five athletes went into a shoot-off to determine who would exit in seventh. Anish, Bessaguet and Mueller would miss once each, while Peter and Su's two misses brought them all onto 11.
Rampula would finish in eighth as expected, but an unprecedented five-way battle would take place between the others. Mueller shot first and scored two, followed by three for Su, securing his safety. Bessaguet would also score twice, meaning another shoot-off could be on the cards. Anish would score three times to stay in the competition too and Peter stayed safe with a perfect five.
In the second shoot-off, Bessaguet and Mueller were in the battle for survival. The German incredibly scored four, meaning a difficult task for the Frenchman to match him. With the pressure on, the world champion managed to score five out of five.
As the world champion and top qualifier, Clement Bessaguet had form on his side heading into the final. He started well, with four from five in the first series, but two misses brought him two behind the early leader, Li Yuehong on nine.
Florian Peter, Vijayveer Sidhu and Su Lianbofan all sat on eight, with Anish and Emanuel Mueller joining Bessaguet on seven. Having scored four in his first series, Matej Rampula would score just once in the second, putting him two adrift before the first of the elimination series.
During this new format, which sees eight athletes instead of six as previous, two athletes would exit the competition after shot 15. Li ensured he would remain with four from five to stay top on 13, but he would be joined by Sidhu, who had a perfect five from five. These two would be the only athletes safe from elimination, as five athletes went into a shoot-off to determine who would exit in seventh. Anish, Bessaguet and Mueller would miss once each, while Peter and Su's two misses brought them all onto 11.
Rampula would finish in eighth as expected, but an unprecedented five-way battle would take place between the others. Mueller shot first and scored two, followed by three for Su, securing his safety. Bessaguet would also score twice, meaning another shoot-off could be on the cards. Anish would score three times to stay in the competition too and Peter stayed safe with a perfect five.
In the second shoot-off, Bessaguet and Mueller were in the battle for survival. The German incredibly scored four, meaning a difficult task for the Frenchman to match him. With the pressure on, the world champion managed to score five out of five.
Tight Margins Dominate Fight for Medals as Li Wins
After the thrilling shoot-off the top two were still tied on 13, with four athletes on 11. Li looked to separate himself at the top with a perfect series of five. Sidhu would stay in the competition with a score of three, but was now two adrift on 16 to the Chinese Olympic champion's 18.
In the four-way tie for third, Su would score three, and Bessaguet would respond with five out of five, matching his score in the second shoot-off, pulling him into joint-second with Sidhu, as well as Anish who would match him. For Peter it was a difficult series, scoring just once to end in sixth place.
Series five started well with Li, who scored four to ensure he stayed in the lead on 22. Su matched that score to move onto 18, while Sidhu scored three to reach a total of 19. Bessaguet would miss the first and last target, but would also move onto 19, meaning a score of three for Anish would see him through to the final four. With four out of five, he jumped up to second place outright, on a score of 20. Su would exit in fifth.
Li enjoyed a cushion that would not reduce, scoring four again to remain at the top on 26. Bessaguet scored a perfect five to join Anish on 24. Sidhu would miss out, finishing on 21 after scoring three from five. In the penultimate five shots, the Chinese athlete cleared four again, matched by Bessaguet, two behind still. Anish, needing five to secure a top two spot. Instead, his four meant another shoot-off with the Frenchman.
Bessaguet scored four, giving Anish a tough mark to match. The Indian cleared all five, giving himself a nod of approval. Bessaguet sighed in his seat, knowing he had to work hard in the second half of the competition to even get onto the podium.
Li, consistently scoring four, could only muster three, meaning a perfect series for Anish would take it to a shoot-off. Luckily for the Olympic champion, the Indian could only score three. They finished on 33 and 31, with Li defending his title successfully, while Anish upgraded from bronze two years ago. It was Bessaguet's first World Cup Final medal in six years.
After the thrilling shoot-off the top two were still tied on 13, with four athletes on 11. Li looked to separate himself at the top with a perfect series of five. Sidhu would stay in the competition with a score of three, but was now two adrift on 16 to the Chinese Olympic champion's 18.
In the four-way tie for third, Su would score three, and Bessaguet would respond with five out of five, matching his score in the second shoot-off, pulling him into joint-second with Sidhu, as well as Anish who would match him. For Peter it was a difficult series, scoring just once to end in sixth place.
Series five started well with Li, who scored four to ensure he stayed in the lead on 22. Su matched that score to move onto 18, while Sidhu scored three to reach a total of 19. Bessaguet would miss the first and last target, but would also move onto 19, meaning a score of three for Anish would see him through to the final four. With four out of five, he jumped up to second place outright, on a score of 20. Su would exit in fifth.
Li enjoyed a cushion that would not reduce, scoring four again to remain at the top on 26. Bessaguet scored a perfect five to join Anish on 24. Sidhu would miss out, finishing on 21 after scoring three from five. In the penultimate five shots, the Chinese athlete cleared four again, matched by Bessaguet, two behind still. Anish, needing five to secure a top two spot. Instead, his four meant another shoot-off with the Frenchman.
Bessaguet scored four, giving Anish a tough mark to match. The Indian cleared all five, giving himself a nod of approval. Bessaguet sighed in his seat, knowing he had to work hard in the second half of the competition to even get onto the podium.
Li, consistently scoring four, could only muster three, meaning a perfect series for Anish would take it to a shoot-off. Luckily for the Olympic champion, the Indian could only score three. They finished on 33 and 31, with Li defending his title successfully, while Anish upgraded from bronze two years ago. It was Bessaguet's first World Cup Final medal in six years.
What the Athletes Had to Say
Li Yuehong: "I've just been resting. I worked hard for every year, so my body is not good. This year I was winning at home and try and do the national competitions and not go to the World Cup. This is my first World Cup competition this year.
"It's exciting to come back to see my friends from every country and it's important that it's the first time to see the change to rapid fire pistol final, so I wanted to try this ahead of maybe the Olympic Games. Eight athletes for our event is perfect, having two more people in the final. I'm trying to do more in 2026. In China we have many good young athletes and I am older now, so I will try and I hope."
Anish: "It's a really great competition for me. I'm happy with the result. I packed my gun with a silver medal in Cairo and I was on vacation in Switzerland and other countries with my friends and just had two days of training. My plan was just to come up to a good level on the day of competition. I seemed to have planned it well and got that silver medal.
"I got silvers at the Asian Championships, World Championship and World Cup Final, and I think I'm growing as an athlete and getting more mature.
"The new format is very interesting. We had more shooters from even more countries so there will be a lot of people watching it who support their athletes. It was a solid final between eight strong men. It wasn't easy. It used to be that 50 percent of the athletes got the medal and now it's more exciting and a good change."
Clement Bessaguet: "Two shoot-offs, it's really difficult to do shoot-offs, but for us it was a new final, so it was difficult to really think but only shoot. I think it's good because it's the only way for our future in the Olympics, so it's nice.
"It was a really good season for me. I think the most important thing for me was the World Championship. Now I can go on holiday with a smile.
Li Yuehong: "I've just been resting. I worked hard for every year, so my body is not good. This year I was winning at home and try and do the national competitions and not go to the World Cup. This is my first World Cup competition this year.
"It's exciting to come back to see my friends from every country and it's important that it's the first time to see the change to rapid fire pistol final, so I wanted to try this ahead of maybe the Olympic Games. Eight athletes for our event is perfect, having two more people in the final. I'm trying to do more in 2026. In China we have many good young athletes and I am older now, so I will try and I hope."
Anish: "It's a really great competition for me. I'm happy with the result. I packed my gun with a silver medal in Cairo and I was on vacation in Switzerland and other countries with my friends and just had two days of training. My plan was just to come up to a good level on the day of competition. I seemed to have planned it well and got that silver medal.
"I got silvers at the Asian Championships, World Championship and World Cup Final, and I think I'm growing as an athlete and getting more mature.
"The new format is very interesting. We had more shooters from even more countries so there will be a lot of people watching it who support their athletes. It was a solid final between eight strong men. It wasn't easy. It used to be that 50 percent of the athletes got the medal and now it's more exciting and a good change."
Clement Bessaguet: "Two shoot-offs, it's really difficult to do shoot-offs, but for us it was a new final, so it was difficult to really think but only shoot. I think it's good because it's the only way for our future in the Olympics, so it's nice.
"It was a really good season for me. I think the most important thing for me was the World Championship. Now I can go on holiday with a smile.