(Beijing, April 14) On the third day of the "Good Luck Beijing" ISSF World Cup, China's veteran marksman Zhu Qinan put up an incredible performance in the men's 10m air rifle final to win the first gold medal for China at the current tournament.

Placing fifth with 597pts, Zhu was two points behind Hungary's Peter Sidi and American Matthew Emmons, who led the qualifications this afternoon.

In the final, Zhu began to show his superb skills and fired a number of 10 points except a 9.9 in the fourth shot. In the meantime, Peter Sidi, with three 9 points, gradually bowed out of the title contention. After eight shots, Matthew Emmons moved to the first place, followed by Zhu by a narrow margin of 0.2 point.

On the ninth shot, both Emmons and Zhu scored 10.2 points, still leaving Zhu behind by 0.2 point. The atmosphere grew tense, and the spectators held their breath to wait for the last moment.

In the last shot, all the shooters fired as expected except Emmons and Zhu. With everybody gazing at him Emmons pulled the trigger and scored 10.1 points, and Zhu followed him with a 10.4, which made his total score 700.8, or 0.1 more than that done by Matthew Emmons. The spectators burst into cheers as they believed Zhu had accomplished a mission impossible by coming from behind to clinch the title from his US opponent at the last second. It was the first gold medal for China in the current Beijing World Cup.

Gagan Naranga of India earned the bronze with a score of 700.3.

Konstantin Prikhodtchenko of Russia, Peter Sidi of Hungary, Nemanja Mirosavljev of Serbia, Stevan Pletikosic of Slovak and Denis Sokolov of Russia finished fourth to eighth respectively.