Chinese shooting squad wakes up to nab gold, applauses of spectators blamed

BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese shooting squad, recognized a tycoon in shooting events which seemed asleep during the first two days in the Good Luck Beijing ISSF World Cup, finally woke up after the weekend to wrap up both gold medals on Monday.

The first was won by Olympic champion Zhu Qinan in men's 10 meters air rifle. Despite fame and numerous titles of this 24-year-old Olympic record holder in the discipline, the competition was no plain sailing.

Starting with 597 points after the qualification round and ranked fifth, Zhu pulled up his socks to overtake by scoring nine of the ten shots above ten points in the final, leaving only a 9.9at the fourth shot.

His arch-rival, 27-year-old Matthew Emmons and Athens Olympic champion in rifle prone who strode into the final with a leading 599 points in the qualification round, managed to maintain his advantage until the last shot, when he scored 10.1, outscored by Zhu with 0.3 point in the shot.

Always among the last two to open fire, the champion admitted that he had a difficult time in the competition. "I was not in good shape lately," he said, "I had an appendectomy on March 1, and resumed training on March 24. Both my technique and health are not as good as before."

He said that the qualification was tough for him. "I felt exhausted, but I stuck on with my strong will," he said, adding that "even you fail to play at your normal level at the beginning you shouldn't give up."

In the final, he "felt so nervous especially at the every beginning...I failed to do a good job at the first five shots." Looking into the Olympic Games this August, Zhu hoped that he would not win so difficultly then. "There are still four months ahead and I will adjust condition."

Another surprise came as China's veteran markswoman, 46-year-old Gao E led all the way to snatch gold in women's trap with 93 hits.

Olympic bronze medalist with a bagful of medals in World Cups, she topped among six finalists with 71 hits gained in the qualification round. In the 25-hit final, she managed to enlarge her advantage by downing 22 birds and finished far ahead.

Commenting on the performances of her rivals, Gao said, "they are quite competitive, but I am also a good shooter."

Unfortunately, as there is only one ticket for the discipline to the Olympic Games, so the shooter is not going to compete there.

Gao attributes her victory to relaxation. "Because the competitor for the Olympics has already been chosen, I am relaxed," she said.

Noises on the shooting range were criticized by many athletes, as some spectators shouted and applauded before a few other shooters.

Also a slow shooter like Zhu Qinan, Matthew Emmons noted that he didn't do well in the last shot. "It normally takes me more than 30 seconds for a shot," he said, but this time, "the spectators react easily, so I fired faster (than Zhu) at the last shot."

Zhu also believed reaction of spectators before all finalists finish their shots also a headache for him.

"We are the host for 2008 Olympic Games and there will be many spectators, but I can't cut off my ears then," Zhe joked, "I must have good control of myself."

But Gao E didn't seem to be affected too much. "On the contrary, they helped me a lot," she said.