China's Qian Zhenhua became the first Asian to win the World Modern Pentathlon Championship in Warsaw, Poland on Saturday.

 

The 26-year-old won the shooting event with 191 target points before coming joint first with the host country's Andrzej Stefanek in the fencing round, each racking up 23 victories against only eight defeats.

 

Qian finished fifth in the 200m swimming, giving him a clear lead overall, 152 points ahead of Russian Alexie Tourkine.

 

In the equestrian competition, Qian received perfect 1200 scores and sealed his final win in the 3,000m cross-country race, in which he started to run about 45 seconds ahead of Tourkine.

 

Tourkine kept his second place to take silver ahead of his teammate Andrei Moiseev, who sustained a wrist injury.

 

Qian finished fourth in last year's World Championship and 16th in the Athens Olympics.

 

Team gold went to Russia, silver to the Czech Republic and bronze to Germany.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2005)