16-year-old Du Yuchen earns first ISSF World Cup title on home range

China's rising shooting talent Du Yuchen claimed the biggest victory of her promising career on Saturday, as she won the women's 10-meter air rifle title at the ISSF World Cup in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

The 16-year-old produced a composed display in the final to secure her first senior World Cup individual gold medal with 254.6 points. Japan's Nobata Misaki finished second on 253.3, while another Chinese shooter, Han Jiayu, completed the podium with bronze.

Du had already shown her form in qualification by leading the field with 634.4 points to advance comfortably to the medal round. However, the final presented a different challenge. An opening shot of 9.9 left her near the bottom of the standings after the first series, but she responded with a succession of high-scoring shots to put herself in contention for glory before the elimination stage.

As the competition progressed, Du continued to apply pressure on long-time leader Nobata. The Chinese teenager moved in front late in the contest and maintained her advantage through the final shots to seal the title in front of her home crowd.

"I felt very relaxed competing at home," Du said after the victory. "The facilities are excellent, the environment is great, and the spectators gave me a lot of support."

Han also delivered a strong performance to earn China a second medal in the event. Reflecting on the emergence of younger teammates such as Du, she praised their technical ability and said training alongside them has become a source of motivation.

"The young shooters are very capable, and their desire to improve pushes me to become better as well," Han said. 

Looking ahead to the Asian Games that start in September in Aichi-Nagoya, she added that her focus will be on improving her consistency and maintaining composure under pressure.