"VAN" (Sports Desk - 15.06.2025) :: The third leg for rifle and pistol events in this season's ISSF World Cup came to a close today in Munich, Germany - as mixed team gold medals went to India and China.
Mixed team 10m air rifle final
The first of these gold medal matches were between India and China, with young Chinese duo Wang Zifei and Sheng Lihao meeting Arya Borse and Arjun Babuta. For Borse, it was an opportunity to win on the third time of asking after two silvers in Buenos Aires and Lima.
But Wang and Sheng were the ones to set the standard after qualification, where they set a new Qualification World Record and a Qualification Junior World Record with a total of 635.9. Incredibly, this means Wang and Sheng hold all world records in individual and mixed team rifle events in senior and junior categories.
Yet, the final would not follow that momentum as Borse and Babuta took the lead early on and held a 9-3 lead over China. Two more wins gave them a 10-point gap. Wang and Sheng would respond well to bring it back to 13-7, but Borse and Babuta shot incredibly well at the end to win 17-7. The bronze medal would go to Norway's Jeanette Hegg Duestad and Jon-Hermann Hegg by a 16-14 score over Sagen Maddalena and Peter Fiori of the United States. The Norwegians held a very healthy lead before the Americans surged back and took the lead. With two wins at the end, Norway took gold.
Mixed team 10m air pistol final
China's Yao Qianxun and Hu Kai were dominant in qualification and went on to win the mixed team 10m air pistol final, denying Armenia its first World Cup gold in two years. The last victory for the Caucus nation came for Elmira Karapetyan in Rio de Janeiro in 2023 and the wait will continue longer as she and Benik Khlghatyan came up short against two of the sport's most in-form athletes.
China had an 8-0 lead and the Armenians had a short-lived revival to bring it back to 8-4. However, Yao and Hu scored four times in a row to win 16-4 for gold. In the battle for bronze, Germany's Doreen Vennekamp and Christian Reitz defeated Olympic champions Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec of Serbia 17-13 with a late comeback.
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