DOHA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Li Yuehong marked his return to international competition with a gold medal in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol at the 2025 ISSF World Cup Final on Sunday.
Li, who had competed solely in domestic events this year and won team gold for Shandong at China's 15th National Games last month, entered the World Cup Final as the defending champion. The 36-year-old placed second in qualification behind world champion Clement Bessaguet of France, with eight athletes, instead of six, advancing under the new final format.
The final featured an unusual five-athlete shoot-off for seventh place, followed by another shoot-off in which Bessaguet edged India's Vijayveer Sidhu to fourth. The Frenchman was unable to overtake Sidhu's teammate Anish Anish in the next stage and settled for bronze. Li, who led from the opening series, maintained a two-hit cushion heading into the final round and secured the title with 33 hits to Anish's 31.
Returning to the international stage at the end of the season, Li said he was pleased to reunite with familiar faces from around the world but remained noncommittal about competing next year. "I'll try," he said. "In China, there are many young shooters who are very good. I'm older now. I'll try, and I hope [I can still be here in 2026]."
The 50m rifle three positions finals were also held under a new structure consisting of 10 kneeling shots, 10 prone shots, two five-shot standing series, and five double-elimination standing series.
In the men's event, Jiri Privratsky of the Czech Republic held off a late push from India's Aishwary Tomar to win with 414.2 points, 0.9 ahead of his rival. China's Olympic and world champion Liu Yukun took bronze. Liu's teammate Tian Jiaming, who had broken the qualification world record with 598 points earlier in the day, failed to deliver in the final and finished eighth.
Liu described his season as "very cost-effective," having competed in only two international events - the world championships and the World Cup Final - collecting one gold and one bronze under different formats.
"The new format gives athletes more room for adjustment, but I'm not fully used to it yet; it's a little difficult for me," he said.
In the women's 50m rifle 3 positions final, Norway's Jeanette Hegg Duestad continued her strong form after last month's world championship victory. She matched the world record of 596 points in qualification and went on to secure the title with 414.3 points. Britain's Seonaid McIntosh and Germany's Anna Janssen earned silver and bronze.
Elsewhere, India's Simranpreet Kaur Brar claimed the women's 25m pistol gold with 41 hits. China's Yao Qianxun added a silver to her air pistol bronze from Saturday, while Germany's Doreen Vennekamp finished with bronze.
The season-ending ISSF World Cup Final will conclude on Monday with the men's and women's trap and skeet events. Enditem
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