Liu Jinyao wins men's 10m air pistol gold with dramatic comeback at world championships

CAIRO, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Liu Jinyao came back from eight points behind to edge compatriot Zhang Yifan 17-15 in a dramatic gold medal match of men's 10m air pistol at the world championships here on Saturday.

Liu shook off a shaky start to earn second place in the ranking match, where Zhang led all the way and trailed by 10-2 in the gold medal match.

Although the 24-year-old managed to win the following three shots when Zhang failed to score more than 10.0, and cut the deficit to 10-8, he had to surrender two more points as Zhang proclaimed a comeback with a perfect 10.9.

It looked like Zhang was about to take the crown after winning another shot to make it 14-8, yet Liu tied the game 15-15 and made a superb 10.8 in the deciding shot to beat Zhang's solid 10.3.

Pavlo Korostylov of Ukraine finished third ahead of Lee Won-ho of South Korea. Another Chinese shooter Zhang Bowen was in fifth place.

The World Championships are also a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with four quota places on offer in each individual event. As one National Olympic Committee can obtain no more than one quota in any individual event, Pakistan was allocated a Paris quota with Gulfam Joseph in sixth place.