Chinese trio Du Li, Wang Xian and Shan Hong edged over Kazakhstan for their crowns in the women's 50-meter rifle three positions team event on 1,754 points.

Kazakhstan lagged behind by 32 points to settle for the silver, with South Korean taking the third place on 1,729 points.

Later, Du Li survived a late challenge from Kazakhstan's Olga Dovgun to take the individual gold medal in 685.5 points. Her compatriot Wang Xian finished third in 682.2 points, losing the silver to Olga by 0.1 points.

"I lost the prone rifle yesterday," said Du, "And I won't let the chance slip away again from my hand."

In the men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol, Chinese sharpshooters Liu Guohui, Chen Yongqiang and Ji Haiping totaled 1,757 points to claim the gold, with the silver medal going to South Korea in 1,747, ahead of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea who took the bronze in 1,738 points.

Liu, who led an eight-member field for the finals in 592 points, maintained his upper hands to claim the individual gold in a total of 690.8 points, beating South Korean Lee Sang-hak to second by 4.8 points.

Chinese Chen Yongqiang won the bronze in 684.2

"I didn't expect the gold medal before the competition," said Liu, "After I had a big lead in the qualification, it is normal for me to strike for the gold."

In the women's 10m running target, another Chinese trio Xu Xuan, Wang Xia and Qiu Wei combined for 1,141 points for the top honor. South Korea placed second in 1,107 and Iran third.

Xu Xuan also was crowned as the individual queen in the running target, ahead of Natalya Kovalenko of Kazakhstan and Wang Xia of China.

The shooting tournament will carry on for three more days with 10 golds on offer, and Chinese official Sun Shengwei forecasted that China will grab two more to its tally.

"We've performed quite well these days. We're aware of the strong rivals on our way to victories. I hope China will win 26 shooting golds in the Asian Games," said Sun.

(People's Daily October 7, 2002)