TOKYO, July 23 (Xinhua) -- For the ninth consecutive time in the Olympic history since 1998, the women's 10m air rifle winner will claim the first gold medal of the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games.

Chinese and Indian shooters are top contenders for the title, but no markswoman should be under-estimated in an event that every single shot could define the eventual champion, especially under the current rules that qualification scores do not count in the final.

Team China is sending a young squad to Tokyo for shooting with Yang Qian and Wang Luyao hoping to set off the medal powerhouse to a fine start.

Yang, who just turned 21 this month, demonstrated stability beyond her age in the lead-up to Tokyo, winning multiple Chinese Olympic qualifications that enabled the Asian champion to secure a ticket to her first-ever Olympic Games long before the national trails finished.

Wang, on the other hand, had to withstand a late scare to qualify for the 32nd Olympiad. The 23-year-old won a silver at the World Cup in Munich in 2019, but missed the podium in her only World Cup Finals and world championship appearances.

Both will make their Olympic debut in Tokyo with lack of international experience potential adversity for them to shine on the biggest stage. However, as team manager Wang Lian put it, this is actually two sides of a coin.

"Young athletes with scarce experience in international events surely means they are not seasoned enough, but on the other hand, they have a pure mind. It's all about how we help them to adjust," he told Xinhua.

The duo will be in the place of challengers competing together with current world record holder Apurvi Chandela of India. The 28-year-old won two of the three World Cup stops in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated global sports calender, including shattering the previous record with 252.9 points on home soil.

She was joined by compatriot Elavenil Valarivan, the reigning world No. 1. The 21-year-old is among the youngest competitors in the event, but started winning golds since Junior events.

Indian shooter Joydeep Karmakar, who competed in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, believed "two medals should be confirmed in shooting" at the Tokyo games. Although he referred to newly introduced mixed team event to fulfill India's medal goal, he insisted "Indian shooters have already achieved a level where they are at the top."

"If I talk about shooting, the expectations are so high. We have beaten Chinese also in the finals," he told Timesofindia.com.

Apart from the rivalry between China and India, it is worth noticing that the two times in recent five games that China lost the first gold of the Olympics to American markswoman. Nancy Johnson won the 2000 games in Sydney, following by Virginia Thrasher's surprising win over big names, including China's 2004 Olympic champion Du Li, eight years later in Beijing.

This time the United States sent out 20-year-old Mary Carolynn Tucket and 26-year-old Alison Marie Weisz, who led a one-two finish at the World Cup competition in New Dehli earlier this year.

Beijing 2008 bronze medalist Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia is up for her fourth Olympic appearance in Tokyo. The unparalleled experience of the 34-year-old could be her biggest advantage over younger opponents on the entry list.

Funded and coached by three-time Olympic champion Niccolo Campriani, Luna Solomon of the refugee team has the potential to establish herself as a rising star when she stepped on the line to enjoy the sport that has inspired her to be brave.

"In sport I have finally found peace. On the range, there is just me, my thoughts, my hopes and my target. In Tokyo this will be no different, and I am ready to make my mark, not just for myself, but also for my one-year-old baby boy," she said in an interview in June. Enditem

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