China's Pang wins gold, India collects three titles at shooting World Cup final
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E-mail Xinhua, November 21, 2019
PUTIAN, China, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's Olympic-winning shooter Pang Wei stormed to the championship in the men's 10m air pistol at the 2019 ISSF World Cup final in Putian, southeast China's Fujian Province on Thursday, while Indian shooters won golds in women's 10m air pistol, men's and women's 10m air rifle.
The 33-year-old Pang, who captured World Championships and Olympics golds in the air pistol in 2006 and 2008 respectively, led all the way in the 25-shot competition on Thursday to top the podium with 243.7 points, two points ahead of the silver medalist Park Daehun of South Korea with 241.7 points.
"This was my first world cup final title in this discipline," noted Pang, who now has collected air pistol golds in all three world's major shooting competitions, saying that the 13 years of competing was not easy.
Pang left the Chinese national team after the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he captured a bronze before he finally decided to come back to help young teammates grow up and fight for his Olympic dream one more time.
"I will try my best in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers. Winning the gold has boosted my confidence," said the veteran shooter. "However, no matter whether I can go to Tokyo or not, I just want the younger generation to be better."
"Many people love shooting in China but can't get access to really enjoy it. That's what I am passionate about -- the promotion of the sport," he added.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Pang's compatriot Wang Qian delivered a strong comeback performance after a big mistake at the beginning of the match to take a bronze in women's 10m pistol with 221.8 points, trailing behind the gold medalist Manu Bhaker of India and second-ranked Serbian shooter Zorana Arunovic, in 244.7 and 241.9 points respectively.
"I did very well today, including the qualification. In the final I did an excellent job," said the 17-year-old Bhaker. "It's been three and a half years since I started practicing. I will practice for winning a medal at the 2020 Olympics."
The Indians also dominated the men's and women's 10m air rifle. Singh Panwar registered the top place with 250.1 points, while his countrywoman Elavenil Valarivan took the gold with 250.8 points. Enditem
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