Double gold, world record for Du and China

The Chinese trio of Li Du, Peijing Li and Xiangyan Wan went on to set a world and Asian record in the 50m rifle 3 position team event with a total of 1766, eclipsing the mark of 1758 set by USA’s Jamie Beyerle, Amy Sowash and Sandra Fong in Munich 2010, at the Asian Shooting Championship here at the Lusail Shooting Complex yesterday.The previous Asian record of 1754 was also held by China, set in 1998 at Barcelona by Hong Shan, Xian Wang, Yimin Xu.Olympic double gold medallist Du, putting her custom-made autographed golden rifle to test for the first time in a competition, also equalled the world and Asian record in the qualifying round of the women’s individual 50m rifle 3 positions event en route to gold with a score of 692.1. Du’s compatriot Li won sliver with a score of 688.3, while Mi Ra Jeong of Korea, with a total of 685.9, clinched bronze. The team silver went to South Korea’s Mi Ra Jeong, Gyungsuk Jeong and Hyun Ah Kong with a score of 1746, while the bronze went to Malaysian team comprising Suryani Nur Taibi Mohd, Muslifah Zulkifli and Farhana Ayuni Nur Halim Abdul.“This is the first time I was using this rifle in a tournament and to equal the record is really good. I got the rifle only in September last year and since then, I was practising with it but never at a tournament,” said Du, who equalled the record, set by Sonja Pfeilschifter of Germany at the Munich World Cup in 2006. In the two qualifying rounds, she managed a near perfect score of 199, 196 and 199 in the prone, standing and kneeling, respectively. However, in the finals, Du managed a total of 98.1 from her 10 shots, which was lesser than the second placed Li (100.3) and Jeong (99.9). It was the record score in the qualifying that made sure she finished at the top on the podium.Du, who was making a comeback after a span of one year following the birth of her son, also revealed that there were moments during the tournament where she really missed him.“It is tough to be away from your kid especially when he is so small. I was pepping myself up catching with him through the internet,” revealed Du, who won the gold in the same event at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 equalling the Games record of 589.Du, earlier in the tournament, had to be content with the bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle event, in which she had won gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004.“I had lost out on gold in the 10m Air Rifle so to get two golds now is a big boost. I was not at all expecting to set the record and was keen on doing well after that early set back. However, I will have to keep up the good work in the nationals as well. We can’t rest on this laurels as that will be the selection tournament ahead of the London Olympics,” revealed Du.In the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event, Kyu Dae Jang won gold with a finals Asian record of 34. Jang had managed a total of 582 in the qualifying rounds. The silver went to Yuehong Li of China and bronze was bagged by Teruyoshi Akiyama of Japan. However, the team title in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol went to Feng Ding, Li and Zhiguo Zhou with a score of 1744. India’s Vijay Kumar, Pemba Tamang and Gurpreet Singh pocketed silver with a total of 1731, while the bronze went to Jang, Daeyoong Kim and Hoo Yong Choi of South Korea.