Tuesday saw a big harvest of the South Korean shooting squad, which reaped two Paralympic gold medals and a silver from the Beijing Shooting Range Hall.
The first medal was won by 34-year-old Lee Yun-ri, who collected 676.9 points from women's 50-meter sport rifle three positions event.
A debutant to the Paralymic arena, she improved the world record of qualification score by five points to 579, before marching into the final as top finalist followed by Chinese Zhang Cuiping who was four points behind. Ranked third was another South Korean shooter Kim Im-yeon with 571.
Although Lee only did a decent job in the ten-shot final, her previous advantage was big enough to ensure her the gold, the first one from shooting for her country at the Beijing Paralympics.
"I feel very happy and satisfied with this result. This is the happiest moment in my life," said the lady who became disabled at the age of 23 due to a traffic accident.
"In order to be mentally prepared, I read some books about psychology and also asked for advice from those who are more experienced," she said.
The 41-year-old veteran shooter Kim who finished seventh in the women's 10-meter air rifle standing event on Sunday mustered up her strength this time, collecting a highest 100 points in the final to edge her Chinese rival Zhang to the third place.
"I was eager to win a medal as a present to my baby," said the five-time Paralympian who has won four Paralympic gold medals. She got married after the Athens Paralympic Games and gave birth to a boy last year. "It's not a gold, but I am very satisfied."
Zhang admitted that she was a bit nervous, although she tried to focus on every shot.
"The most important thing is my participation," she said, "winning a medal is not the ultimate goal."
Three hours after the national anthem of South Korea, another wheelchair shooter Lee Ji-seok bestowed another gold to his nation.
Collecting a staggering 600 points in the qualification of mixed 10-meter air rifle prone, the 38-year-old managed to lead all the way in the final by making seven of the ten shots above or equalling 10.5. His total score was 705.3 points.
Coincidentally, he wanted to dedicate the medal to his baby as well, although he or she wasn't born.
"This will be a precious gift," he said. "I cherish this moment of shooting. I don't know how to express myself, but I want to thank everyone who supports me."
Another South Korean marksman You Ho-gyoung also chalked up 600 points in the qualification but finished the final as co-third with Swedish Viktoria Wedin.
In the shoot-off, You fired first. A 10.6.
But his European rival scored a 10.7, knocking the Korean off medal podium with tiny advantage.
Since Sunday, South Korean shooting squad has altogether two gold, two silver and a bronze at the Beijing Paralympics.
When asked why shooters from that Asian country appeared so sharp, Kim Im-yeon said, "There are about 100 shooters with disability in Korea. We have at least 10 national competitions to attend each year. All of us try our best because we have to go through very fierce competitions to get there. We train almost all the time of a year excpet for the coldest time in winter."
On Wednesday two shooting gold shall be produced from events of the 25-meter sport pistol and 50-meter free rifle three positions.
(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2008)