Chinese shooter Yang seeks learn from individual bronze for mixed team event

Yang Haoran of China react during the ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 men's 10m air rifle final in Tokyo, Japan, July 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

TOKYO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shooter Yang Haoran hopes his nerve-wrecking experience in the Olympic men's 10m air rifle can help him improve when he pairs up with Yang Qian in the upcoming mixed-gender shooting event.

24-year-old Yang set a new Olympic qualifying record of 632.7 points Sunday morning at Asaka Shooting Range, but struggled to contain his emotions in the eight-man final.

"To tell the truth, I was really nervous at the beginning. I was not in good form, so I paced my shots, and tried to adjust according to the plan I made beforehand. The result turned out pretty well," said Yang.

American William Shaner took the lead from the start of the competition and won the gold medal with an Olympic record of 251.6 points. Yang's 16-year-old teammate Sheng Lihao grabbed the silver.

Yang told reporters that he actually felt good about being stable, even though it sometimes became an obstacle against him reaching his potential.

"I never scored under 10 points, even in qualification, which means I did not make any mistakes. All I could say is that I was probably being over-stable, not being able to make super shots," he said.

Yang, who is making his second Olympic appearance, rated himself only a six out of ten for his performance, as he and Sheng failed to have China's national anthem played again in the Asaka Shooting Range.

"I am capable of doing better," he said.

Yang's attention now turns to Tuesday's mixed team event, where he will pair up with Yang Qian, the winner of the women's 10m air rifle.

"I will review the entire process and learn from it. This will be experience and motivation for me in the mixed team event," said Yang.

Yang was hailed as a "genius" after sweeping three titles in the space of a month with the Youth Olympic Games, World Championships and Asian Games in 2014, but he suffered a surprise exit at Rio 2016.

After all these years as a professional shooter, Yang said shooting is now more "a sense of mission and responsibility," especially in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We trained behind closed doors for a long period of time during the pandemic, well-supplied in a safe environment, thanks to the efforts of healthcare workers and the support from our country. We athletes should have this sense of mission and responsibility to win glory for our nation," he said.