China captured all six shooting titles on offer on Sunday, a repeat
of Thursday's gold-sweeping feat, bringing its medal haul to 24
golds, 11 silvers and six bronzes in the shooting tournament of the
on-going Asian Games.
Chinese trio Du Li, Wang Xian and Shan Hong edged over Kazakhstan
for their crowns in the women's 50-meter rifle three positions team
event on 1,754 points.
Kazakhstan lagged behind by 32 points to settle for the silver,
with South Korean taking the third place on 1,729 points.
Later, Du Li survived a late challenge from Kazakhstan's Olga
Dovgun to take the individual gold medal in 685.5 points. Her
compatriot Wang Xian finished third in 682.2 points, losing the
silver to Olga by 0.1 points.
"I
lost the prone rifle yesterday," said Du, "And I won't let the
chance slip away again from my hand."
In
the men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol, Chinese sharpshooters Liu
Guohui, Chen Yongqiang and Ji Haiping totaled 1,757 points to claim
the gold, with the silver medal going to South Korea in 1,747,
ahead of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea who took the
bronze in 1,738 points.
Liu, who led an eight-member field for the finals in 592 points,
maintained his upper hands to claim the individual gold in a total
of 690.8 points, beating South Korean Lee Sang-hak to second by 4.8
points.
Chinese Chen Yongqiang won the bronze in 684.2
"I
didn't expect the gold medal before the competition," said Liu,
"After I had a big lead in the qualification, it is normal for me
to strike for the gold."
In
the women's 10m running target, another Chinese trio Xu Xuan, Wang
Xia and Qiu Wei combined for 1,141 points for the top honor. South
Korea placed second in 1,107 and Iran third.
Xu
Xuan also was crowned as the individual queen in the running
target, ahead of Natalya Kovalenko of Kazakhstan and Wang Xia of
China.
The shooting tournament will carry on for three more days with 10
golds on offer, and Chinese official Sun Shengwei forecasted that
China will grab two more to its tally.
"We've performed quite well these days. We're aware of the strong
rivals on our way to victories. I hope China will win 26 shooting
golds in the Asian Games," said Sun.
(
October 7, 2002)