Day-2 of the 2015 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon (KOR) was opened by the 50m Pistol Men Finals today, with two Rio 2016 Olympic Quota places up for grabs.
China's first-time finalist Zhang Bowen, 18, finished in the spotlights by winning the match, after a neck and neck battle against another young finalist, Park Daehun of the Republic of Korea, 19.
Zhang started off the final with a disappointing 8.9-point shot, but then zeroed in and started climbing the scoreboard. Shot after shot, he moved closer and closer to Park, who was supported by a crowd of fans here on his home turf.
With five shots to go to the end of the final match, Park was still enjoying a four-point lead over Zhang. But an amazing turn of events happened on the penultimate shot, when the young Chinese finalist took advantage of a bad shot of Park to move up in the klead.
Zhang eventually pocketed the Gold medal with an score of 192.4 points, his Korean opponents in second with 191.1 points. But both the medallists celebrated equally, winning the applauses of the spectators as they were awarded a Rio 2016 Quota Place each.
Vietnam's Hoang Xuan Vinh, 40, who had already won an Olympic Quota at last year's ISSF Wolrd Championship in Granada, followed them closing the match in third place with 171.8 points.
Anton Gourianov of the Russian Federation, 35, ranked 9th in the world in this event, missed his chance to grab an Olympic quota as he placed in fourth with 150.2 points.
Competing in his first ISSF final round, Iceland's Asgeir Sigurgeirsson, 29, took the fifth place with 127.5 points, while world rank's #8 Damir Mikec, 31, from Serbia, ended up in sixth with 110.6 points.
Two of the best Pistol shooters of the world finished in seventh and eighth place. The 2013 and 2014 ISSF World Cup champion Wang Zhiwei, 26, from the People's Republic of China, scored 92.9 points and landed in seventh, preceding the home hero, the three-time Olympic Champion Jin Jongoh, 35, ranked first in the world in this event, who closed the match in eight and last place with 73.2 points.
The 2015 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon (KOR) continues with two more Finals, today. The 10m Air Rifle Women and the 25m Pistol Women Finals will take place at 14.00 and 16.00 (Changwon time). Watch the Finals live at www.issf-sports.org