China, South Korea share glory at shooting meet

JAKARTA (JP): China continued its gold medal winning streak on the penultimate day of the eighth Asian Shooting Championships here yesterday, but it had to share the glory with South Korea.

Only two golds from the Men's Small Bore Free Rifle Three Positions were up for grabs yesterday, with South Korea upsetting the Chinese in the team event in a record-breaking run.

The South Korean trio of Lee Eun-chul, Cha Young-chul and Bae Sung-duk scored a combined total of 3,461 to improve on the old mark by three points. It was the sixth new Asian records established in the championship, including a world-equaling mark set by Zhang Bing of China in the men's trap on Wednesday.

China finished 21 points behind the Koreans for the silver. The bronze went to first-timer Kazakhstan.

China took sweet revenge in the individual event when Ning Lijia shot down South Korean Asian Games gold medalist Lee Eun- chul. Both Ning and Lee shared the lead in the qualifying round with 1,159 points each, but the Chinese maintained his composure to triumph in the Final Eight round.

Ning, who always shot at the last second, left a nervous Lee trailing throughout the final showdown. The Chinese took a 2.8- point lead over Lee when they completed the 10 compulsory shots. Ning totaled 1256.6 points to win the gold, with the South Korean taking the silver.

Alexander Melsitov of Kazakhstan grabbed the bronze after beating another South Korean, Cha Young-chul, during the shoot- off.

"Qualifying for the Olympic Games is more important than just winning the gold medal here," Ning said afterwards. "But the way I strolled to victory did not surprise me."

The 30-year-old Physical Education College student from Hobei scored his personal best of 1,171 to break the national record during a local competition in August.

"I had earlier expected Ning to win his favorite event. He is on his way to reaching the highest level," said Chinese rifle coach, Xiong Haipeng. Ning won the Asian Games air rifle last year.

Strong wind

Xiong, however, complained about the strong wind at the Senayan shooting range. "My shooter could have performed better if the wind hadn't adversely affect his concentration," he said.

The victory gave Ning another berth for the Atlanta Olympics next year. He also won Olympic places in the Small Bore Rifle Prone and Air Rifle competitions.

"It is going to be extremely tough to beat European and American rivals in Atlanta, but I still have a chance," was Ning's prediction for the Olympic shooting competition. "European and American shooters have a better standard of between 1,174 and 1,180," coach Xiong added.

As of yesterday, four Chinese shooters had qualified for the Olympics, in addition to another 19 who had assured themselves of berths in previous tournaments. The shooting meet here serves as the last qualifying round for the 1996 Olympics.

The additional gold from Ning confirmed China's domination at the championship, the second meet held here after 1983. The defending overall title has reaped 20 golds, 12 silvers and six bronzes. South Korea came away with five golds, four silvers and eight bronzes.

The closing day of the championship today will offer eight gold medals, opening up a fierce battle for the runner-up title. (amd)

Medals tally 1. China 20 11 6 2. South Korea 5 4 8 3. Japan 2 4 6 4. Kazakhstan 1 2 4 5. Mongolia 1 2 0 6. India 1 1 2 7. Kyrgyztan 0 2 0 8. Uzbekistan 0 1 0

Thailand 0 1 0 10. Indonesia 0 0 1

Vietnam 0 0 1

Chinese Taipei 0 0 1

Iran 0 0 1

Iraq 0 0 1