China's Liu breaks men's 50m rifle 3 positions world record twice at ISSF World Cup

BAKU, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China's Liu Yukun broke the world record of the men's 50m rifle 3 positions twice in two days as China topped the medal tally with seven golds at the International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Liu improved the world record by 1.2 points in the first competition on Thursday, winning gold with 467.3 points. He carried on his momentum in Saturday's second competition, raising his own record to 468.9 points, an average of over 10.4 points on each shot.

Liu was almost in a competition of his own on Saturday, scoring 156.6 points after the first 15 shots in kneeling position, 2.3 ahead of second-placed Miran Maricic of Croatia. 27-year-old Liu accumulated 315.1 points after another 15 shots in prone, cementing a 4.2-point lead. Despite a 9.5 in the penultimate standing shot, Liu was able to put the gold medal safely in his pocket and lower his own world record.

Reigning world champion Alexander Schmirl of Austria had to settle for silver with 463.2 points, and Jiri Privratsky of the Czech Republic, winner of the Baku World Cup last year, finished third with 452.4.

Olympic silver medalist Sheng Lihao also bagged two gold medals in Baku, taking the men's 10m air rifle gold with 251.8 points on Monday, two days after winning the mixed team gold with partner Huang Yuting.

His teammate Du Linshu finished runner-up in both events, before taking his third silver in Baku in the 50m rifle 3 positions on Thursday after an unstoppable Liu.

Veteran Li Yuehong repeated his world championships victory over Clement Bessaguet of France in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol event on Saturday, thanks to a perfect final series. The two were tied at 29-29 before the decisive series, where Li made five while Bessaguet only managed two.

Xie Yu emerged victorious in the men's 10m air pistol event, and Lyu Jianlin added a rare men's skeet gold for China.

As the nine-day Baku World Cup concluded on Saturday, China stood on top of the medal tally with seven gold, seven silver and five bronze medals from 19 events, followed by South Korea with three gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The remaining nine golds were split among nine countries.