Shooting: Teh Xiu Hong and teammates win Singapore's first World Cup gold medals in pistol events
Singapore shooter Teh Xiu Hong scored a hit 15 times in a row towards the end of the ISSF World Cup women's 25m pistol medal match to win gold with a round of five shots to spare on Saturday (July 16).
A hit is considered a shot value of 10.2 or higher.
In doing so, the 28-year-old helped Singapore win their first gold medal in the pistol discipline of the World Cup series, as teammate Teo Shun Xie took bronze in the same event.
There were more reasons for the national shooters to cheer at the Changwon International Shooting Range in South Korea on Sunday as Teh teamed up with her younger sister Teh Xiu Yi and Teo to beat Thailand's Tanyaporn Prucksakorn, Pim-On Klaisuban and Chawisa Paduka 17-9 to claim another gold in the women's 25m pistol team event.
The trio had won a bronze in the women's air pistol team event on Tuesday after beating Japan's Yukari Konishi, Mika Zaitsu and Satoko Yamada 16-10 in the play-offs.
In the individual event, Xiu Hong and Teo had made it to the last eight as the first and seventh qualifiers respectively out of 28 athletes.
They were in separate ranking matches, where Xiu Hong recorded 14 hits out of 20 shots to edge Austria's Sylvia Steiner out of the medal match by one hit. Meanwhile, Teo topped her ranking match with 15 hits.
In the four-woman medal match, the shooter with the lowest score after four rounds is knocked out, following which there will be further eliminations after two rounds until the champion is determined.
India's Manu Bhaker was the first to fall after recording just nine hits in the first 20 shots. Xiu Hong led after six rounds with 23 hits but Frenchwoman Mathilde Lamolle and Teo were tied at 19 hits and required a shootout to decide who would progress. They drew 3-3 in the first shootout round, before Lamolle won 4-3.
However, Xiu Hong was just too accurate and another perfect round meant that she led 28-21 and had an unassailable lead going into the final round.
Singapore Shooting Association president Michael Vaz hailed the shooters' achievements despite not having a finals range and a similar competitive environment to train in at home.
Congratulating the team, he also praised the champion, noted her growth and said: "In 2018, I watched Xiu Hong enter the finals in the World Cup in Changwon, but the fear of shooting in a finals range terrified her. The lack of training in finals events saw her eliminated in the first round.
"Much has changed. In January 2022, I watched her struggle during the ISSF Jakarta GP to win a bronze. And Xiu Hong is now a World Cup champion, while Shun Xie also fought her way to a bronze medal, both of which are truly commendable achievements."
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