"VAN" (Sports Desk - 12.09.2025) :: Danilo Sollazzo put in the performance of a lifetime to win the gold medal in the men's 10m air rifle, defeating home favourite Sheng Lihao for a new world record at the ISSF World Cup in Ningbo.
The Italian came up against the world record holder and Olympic champion Sheng in the final, only to take the victory and take the world record from his opponent.
Men's 10m Air Rifle
Sheng Lihao would have been feeling confident of securing another gold medal, having dominated qualification with a total of 637.1, with Sollazzo finishing second with a score of 633.5.
The final lineup was a who's who of stars, including Olympic silver medallist Victor Lindgren from Sweden, AIN athlete Ilia Marsov and Hungarian Istvan Peni.
But gaps started to form from the off. Lucas Kryzs from France and Australia's Jack Rossiter were dropped from the pack early on, finishing in seventh and eighth. After a strong start, a rogue 9.5 undone Marsov's good work, and he would be eliminated in sixth after scoring 10.3 and 9.8 with his last two shots.
Out front, Sollazzo had already formed a great gap - scoring 106.1 in the first competition stage, far ahead of second-place Lindgren on 104.7. His first four shots in the elimination stage stabilised his lead. At that point, he still had a gap of one point, while second to sixth were separated by just 0.4.
Sheng would actually close the gap with some impressive series of shooting. He would score 21.6, 21.7 and 21.4 from a possible 21.8, bringing the deficit down to 0.7. That said, Sollazzo gave up little and barely put a foot wrong throughout the whole final. He only scored below 10.5 on two occasions - a 10.3 and a 10.2.
Further back in the field, it was clear in such a quality field that one error could ruin your day. Lindgren exited in fifth after losing touch when he shot for 9.6, while Peni dropped from bronze to fourth after a series score of 20.5, while the Korean Park Ha-jun delivered a quality 21.4 to move back into the podium spot.
By the time of the final two shots, Sollazzo had to keep it together to take the win, and did so with shots of 10.7 and 10.8. With that, he officially broke the world record with a total of 255.0, beating Sheng's previous best of 254.5 from Munich last year. Today, the Chinese athlete scored 253.5 for the silver, showing the quality performance he put in despite coming up short. For Sollazzo, it is his third World Cup gold. Park would also win his second individual ISSF World Cup medal with the bronze.
Women's 25m Pistol
Another stacked field was dominated by the Koreans and the Chinese in the women's 25m pistol, as Olympic champion Yang Ji-in took the gold medal.
Both nations had three qualifiers, joined by Austria's Sylvia Steiner and Veronika Major from Hungary. Qualifying was tight, with Camille Jedrzejewski of France the notable athlete to just miss out, tied on the same score as Nam Da-jung.
Yang and her compatriot Oh Ye-jin, the 10m air pistol Olympic champion, would be the most notable names in the final in the absence of China's Sun Yujie, who had won all three legs of the World Cup prior to Ningbo. Home hopes mostly lied with Yao Qianxun, who thrice has stood on the podium on the World Cup circuit this year.
Oh and Yao were the early leaders, starting with a perfect five from five. The Korean would pull ahead by two on the field at the end of the first competition stage on 13, with five athletes on 11 and two on seven. The two at the back were Steiner and Major, who would be the first to be eliminated in seventh and eighth.
As quick as Oh had built a lead, she lost it, with three targets missed. In contrast, Yao and her teammate Xiao Jiaruixuan would have a clean round, moving them into the lead. Yet, it unravelled for Yao from there. She missed three targets in the next round, followed by two in the next. She had a lead of four over then-sixth-placed Nam, but the Korean would close that to one shot after a perfect round. She would then take it to a shoot-off with Yao and Zhang Yueyue, with Yao missing out, finishing sixth.
Nam would be next to exit in fifth, followed by Zhang in fourth. While the three were involved in a shoot-off, Yang had slowly brought herself to the front after a slow start. Missing four of her first 10 targets, she would then score 19 from 20 - leading Xiao by one shot, 25 to 24. After Oh's mid-final drop, she started to find her form again too, sitting on 22. A perfect round brought her level with Yang, while Xiao survived a shoot-off with Zhang and would win the bronze medal as a result.
For the win, it came down to perfection. Yang would score five from five to take a one-shot lead and would score four in her last round, beating Oh with the totals finishing 39 to 37. It was Yang's second World Cup career gold and it was Xiao's first World Cup medal, on her debut.
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