"VAN" (Sports Desk - 10.11.2025) :: France's Clement Bessaguet made the step up to the top step of the podium after consecutive silvers in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event, coming out in an intense final at the 2025 ISSF World Championship Rifle/Pistol in Cairo, Egypt.
He was joined on the podium by India's Anish and Ukraine's Maksym Horodynets, who survived intense shoot-offs in a narrow field.
Qualification
Focus this season has been on the athletes from Germany and France in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol and half of the final field hailed from the two countries. Unsurprisingly, Clement Bessaguet, one of the most consistent athletes this season, was one of them with a total of 589 to go top of the standings. This included a perfect 8-second round in his second stage.
Germany's Emanuel Mueller also advanced, being tied with 585 alongside India's Asian silver medallist Anish and China's Ni Zhixin, who was making his international debut. Mueller, who won bronze in Munich at the ISSF World Cup this season and has made the final in all three of his World Cup appearances this season, was part of a trio from his country hoping to make it into the top six.
Ukraine's 2024 European champion Maksym Horodynets, who just missed the Olympic final last year, qualified in fifth place for his first senior world final. The final spot went the way of Oliver Geis, who won silver in this event 11 years, in his first final of the season.
With Geis advancing on 582, he denied his teammate Florian Peter - one of the favourites for the gold. The gold medallist at the ISSF World Cup in Ningbo scored well in the first stage, but struggled more in the second and finished on 581 in seventh. Czechia's Matej Rampula finished ninth, one ahead of 2022 world champion Lee Gun-hyeok of the Republic of Korea. China's hopes would have lied mostly with Su Lianbofan - who finished second, fifth and ninth this season at the ISSF World Cup and won the Asian title - but the 20-year-old had a difficult day, finishing 19th.
The Final
Clement Bessaguet set the standard in the first series, scoring all five shots, which was matched by Anish and Ni Zhixin. Maksym Horodynets had four, while the Germans Oliver Geis and Emanuel Mueller were at the back with three.
Ni remained the only athlete with a clean record after 10 shots, giving the underdog an opportunity to upset the more established athletes. Anish missed once and Bessaguet twice to give the Chinese some breathing room. Horodynets would move onto eight too, followed by Geis on seven and Mueller - with another double miss - on six.
As the first competition stage ended, Ni was top of the tree on 14, followed by Anish one behind and Bessaguet and Horodynets still level one back. The Germans were also level on 11, thanks to Mueller keeping a clean series.
Ni Form Collapses, Denying Five-Way Shoot-Off
Mueller had the pressure on him to remain in the competition and thrived under it - again hitting all five targets to bring him clear of his compatriot Geis, who would bow out in sixth place.
But Mueller's clean record made the standings look very interesting. Both Bessaguet and Horodynets missed once and Anish twice to bring them all level on 16 points. For Ni, a double miss brought him back into the clutches of those behind - now just one shot ahead of the other four remaining athletes.
Those four would all miss once, but shockingly, Ni missed thrice. A five-way shoot-off was looking like a possibility, but scoring twice brought Ni to 19, one behind the rest of them. It was a sigh of relief for the rest of the athletes, knowing they would not have to run the gauntlet to stay in the competition.
With just one miss in 15, Mueller had momentum on his side, but that momentum came to an end in the sixth series, scoring just two. Usually enough to consign an athlete to elimination, there was relief from him to see Anish miss the same number too. It was the Indian who remained in the competition in the shoot-off to guarantee himself a medal Horodynets would score three to move into second place. But most importantly, Bessaguet had a clean record and that brought him two clear of the Ukrainian with 10 shots to go.
Bessaguet Upgrades Silver to Gold Medal
Clement Bessaguet has had many close calls in his career. He twice missed the final of the Olympic Games with consecutive seventh place finishes and in the past two World Championships finished with the silver medal. Now with a gap to his opponents, he was ready to make those near misses in the past something that would no longer be on his mind.
In the penultimate series, Horodynets was first to go and would score twice. This gave Anish an opportunity and with a score of three, would go level with the Ukrainian. The Frenchman scored four, putting him two shots away from the title. The shoot-off went the way of the Indian who faced an uphill battle to win the gold.
And with misses on his second and fifth shots, it confirmed that Bessaguet would win the gold medal before firing his pistol for the last time. He would score two more to formalise his victory. He was now the world champion.
A delighted Anish, who won an ISSF World Cup bronze here two years ago, added to his Asian silver. For Horodynets, it was his first individual medal at an ISSF event - and it was a perfect time to do so.
Although Germany came away from the individual without a medal, Emanuel Mueller, Oliver Geis and Florian Peter were the team gold medallists with a total of 1748. China's Ni Zhixin, He Shiyu and Su Lianbofan claimed silver on 1740 and the Republic of Korea's Lee Gun-hyeok, Lee Jaekyoon and Hong Suk-jin were confirmed as bronze medallists with 1735.
What the Athletes Had to Say
Clement Bessaguet said: "I didn't want to finish second for a third time, the final was really hard and there was very small differences between us so it was a difficult one for me. I knew that I have to do five at this moment because the other athletes were really strong. In my mind it was either five or nothing.
"I was really happy and all the stress went away. It was really difficult to shoot the last series because I knew I was the winner."
Anish said: "I would say the feeling is completely unreal because I've tried a lot of times and I showed in the preparation, but not able to deliver in the competition. But this time I had a solid qualification especially in the second half, but this time I was mentally prepared in training and things worked in my favour.
"Normally I don't believe in luck because when I don't win a medal I don't say it was bad luck. I think it was the good work behind that worked in my favour today.
"This final was dramatic. There were a lot of ups and downs. The beginning I started with five hits and when it came to elimination it was three hits and after that it was not easy until the last series. It was always a tie and a shoot-off for fourth place and third place and for the silver medal.
"In my mind it was to win the medal today. We spoke yesterday in an interview that I've not yet qualified for the World Cup Final. In the last month my screensaver on my phone was the last three spots for the ISSF World Cup Final. In the previous Olympics I had three individual bronze medallists and already I have upgraded those to silver. I can't express my happiness."
Maksym Horodynets said: "It was the first World Championship medal, I prepared a lot and I enjoyed this final. I am very happy that I succeeded. I know that this is the first individual medal, but it wasn't even so much the top goal for me as I want an Olympic medal."
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