"VAN" (Sports Desk - 12.11.2025) :: Yao Qianxun and Hu Kai claimed the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event, as China and India were once again locked in a contest for the victory.
They defeated India's Esha Singh and Samrat Rana 16-10 as the two world champions were in action. Republic of Korea's Oh Ye-jin and Hong Su-hyeon won the bronze medal, beating Iran's Haniyeh Rostamiyan and Vahid Golkhandan 16-8.
Qualification
Esha Singh and Samrat Rana were the top of the standings in qualification with a total of 586, far ahead of the rest. Yao Qianxun and Hu Kai were level with Haniyeh Rostamiyan and Vahid Golkhandan on 583, but were more accurate hitting the centre, which separated the two.
Oh Ye-jin and Hong Su-hyeon took the fourth spot ahead of their fellow Koreans Yang Ji-in and Kim Cheong-yong who were both on 581 each. For Oh and Hong, they hit the centre target 24 times, to Yang and Kim's 23 times.
In sixth place, Sevval Ilayda Tarhan and Yusuf Dikec of Turkey would just miss out too, while Olympic champions Serbia's Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec were in 10th and China's Jiang Ranxin and Xie Yu placed 11th.
Gold Medal Match
Yao Qianxun, the newly-crowned women's champion, teamed up with Hu Kai, the new world silver medallist. Hu would meet Samrat Rana again, who defeated him on the final shot in the men's final yesterday. Esha Singh looked to make up for her early exit in the women's final.
China started exceptionally, with a combined score of 21.2 from a possible 21.8. They would win the first three series as India struggled to make their mark, but a low score of 19.3 in the fourth series from Yao and Hu gave India a chance to capitalise, and they responded with 19.6.
Both teams would score 20.7 in the fifth series for a draw, before Singh and Rana scored their best series with 20.5 and 20.9, giving them a 9-7 lead.
But from there, China would push back without response, with three series in a row with scores of 20.5 and over, making it 13-9. They would narrowly add another win by 0.1 points, giving them match point. With both teams scoring 20.6 and China getting the draw point needed, they took the win, 10-6.
Bronze Medal Match
The battle for bronze was a match of two halves. Oh Ye-jin and Hong Su-hyeon capitalised on the mistakes on the Iranian pair out the gate, taking a 4-0 lead, but then that fortune changed.
Haniyeh Rostamiyan and Vahid Golkhandan scored 20.4 and above for six series in a row, showing great form. The highlight of these was a 21.1 on series five, putting them in front for the first time at 6-4.
But strong shooting came from the Koreans too, who replied with 20.8 and 20.7 to pull back ahead, only for Iran to tie it up at 8-8 when they again laid down a total of 21.1.
Oh and Hong would sneak the next series by 0.1 after all four scored under 10, and they would extend that lead thanks to a strong result from Oh with a 10.3. While the Koreans were not registering scores like they were at the midway point, they were still managing to move away due to Iran's scores. 19.6 would beat 19.3 to make it 14-8.
Rostamiyan's 10.5 would not be enough as Golkhandan scored 9.6. Oh and Hong shot 10.3 and 10.4 to win again, confirming the bronze by a 16-8 margin.
What the Athletes Had to Say
Hu Kai said: "Compared to yesterday, my performance in today's competition is better than yesterday and I'm so glad that I can win this gold medal with my partner. Thanks to my partner.
Yao Qianxun said: "Every competition for me is a new start so I pay attention to the competition and try to focus on every shot."
Samrat Rana said: "I'm feeling very happy and I have to say it was a tough final, but we still managed to win silver. I think we have a great team bonding and that's why we won gold in the Junior World Championship and after that in the senior category in our first World Championship to win a silver, it feels good."
Esha Singh said: "It was a team effort. I'm happy with the result, we gave our best and I'm grateful to be here at this platform and to our team and staff. It's my fifth time in Cairo, I really like the range and infrastructure. The lighting is amazing here and overall I've always had really good competitions so it's always great coming back here."
Oh Ye-jin said: "I tried to be calmer because I've already experienced a major event in the Olympics, so I tried to think about all the other competitions like playing in a national competition."
Hong Su-hyeon said: "I didn't know until I shot my last shot. I checked the monitor after the last shot and then I realised it, but I was feeling a little bit of pressure because even though there were some point differences I knew that we could get followed back soon. But when I saw the monitor I was very happy.
"I came here to experience more because it was my first senior World Championships, but because I made the result, I'm happier."
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