Chinese markswoman Du Li became a grand slam winner in shooting after she won the women's 10-meter air rifle event in Zagreb on Monday at the 49th World Shooting Championships.

 

 

"I am really exited about the result," Du said. "But I didn't think much about the result before the final."

 

Du, gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, went into the final in fourth place but earned a high score of 104.1 points in the 10-shot final round, winning her first world title with a total score of 502.1 points.

 

This title adds to the 24-year-old's championship honors already won including the Olympics, World Cup, World Cup Final and Asian Games.

 

"Zagreb is a lucky place for me," she said. "I first came here in 2003 for a World Cup tournament and won my first World Cup gold medal and a world finals record."

 

This was also sweet revenge for Du. She lost the gold medal at the World Championship in 2002 in Finland to Katerina Kurkova of the Czech Republic. This time around, Du ousted Kurkova with a hair's breath advantage of three tenths of a point.

 

Kurkova, 22, originally planned to take a year or more off from shooting in mid-2005 because of back and shoulder pain.

 

Olga Dovgun from Kazakhstan took the bronze with a total of 500.9 points.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2006)