China’s huge impact at the ISSF World Cup Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun in Baku continued today as Lyu Jianlin, competing in his first World Cup final, earned his country’s fifth gold and 16th medal.
The 27-year-old scored 56, finishing six clear of Argentina’s 36-year-old Federico Gil, with Ben Llewellin earning Britain’s first medal of this World Cup in claiming bronze.
Earlier at the Olympic Shooting Range, Austen Smith of the United States had secured an emphatic win in the skeet women event, finishing on 56 hits – six clear of Italy’s world No.1 Martina Maruzzo.
Gil, who has a gold and two silvers to his credit in individual World Cup competition, was the early leader as he scored with his first 13 efforts.
But Lyu, who missed three of his first 14 shots, made only one mistake in the rest of his competition to confirm the very best of debuts.
"I concentrated on hitting each target, one by one, and not focusing on anything else," he told ISSF TV..
"It is a great honour for me to compete with such fantastic shooters in this final. I was a really happy to have this chance at this range."
Llewellin’s performance in finishing top of the previous day’s qualifying enabled him to secure a place on the podium ahead of Italy’s Elia Sdruccioli after both had finished level on 33.
Chinese Taipei’s Lee Meng Yuan, who won at January’s Asian Championships and Olympic Qualifier in Kuwait, finished fifth, one place ahead of France’s Eric Delaunay.
Smith, 22, who finished 10th at the Tokyo Olympics and has been selected by the United States for Paris 2024, was hugely consistent in the women’s final.
After taking an early lead she put together a sequence of 27 hits in the middle of her competition before ensuring victory by scoring with each of her 10 final shots.
Maruzzo, 30, who has won World Cup silver in Cairo and Rabat this year, maintained her high level of performance in Baku, topping qualifying before producing her result today.
Slovakia’s 39-year-old world champion and London 2012 bronze medallist Danka Bartekova had to settle for bronze after achieving the same score as her Italian rival but having to give way through an inferior bib number, having qualified fifth.
Finishing one place off the podium was Chile’s Francisca Crovetto Chadid, who won last month’s Final Olympic Qualifier in Doha on a shoot-off.
Maruzzo’s 21-year-old compatriot Sara Bongini, who had finished second in qualifying, took fifth place ahead of Gabriela Rodriguez of Mexico.