HANGZHOU - China added two more gold medals to its tally at the 2026 ISSF World Cup on Sunday, as Zhang Changhong shattered the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final world record en route to the title, while Bu Shuaihang won the men's 10m air pistol event.
The men's 50m rifle 3 positions competition featured fierce contention. Zhang traded the lead with Matvei Potapov, who competed as an Individual Neutral Athlete.
As the match entered the elimination phase, Zhang maintained more consistent form, while Potapov saw fluctuations in his rhythm, registering only one shot above 10 points in the final four attempts. Zhang ultimately topped the podium with a new world record score of 363.0 points, beating the previous record of 362.0 set by India's Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar in February.
The title marks Zhang's third gold medal at ISSF World Cup series in 2026. He previously claimed the men's 10m air rifle crown at the Munich stage in Germany and the men's 50m rifle 3 positions gold at the Granada stage in Spain.
"I performed quite well in both the qualification and final today," said Zhang.
"I think focusing on the process matters more than the result, and acturally I had no idea I could break the world record before the final shot," Zhang added.
Zhang will team up with Du Yuchen in the 10m air rifle mixed team event on Tuesday.
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Hungary's Istvan Marton Peni staged a late rally to take silver with 361.7 points, while Potapov settled for bronze.
China's Bu Shuaihang and Xie Yu advanced to the final of the men's 10m air pistol after ranking first and third respectively in the qualification round.
Bu built a commanding lead early in the final and pulled away from the field, sealing gold with 244.4 points. Hong Su-hyeon of South Korea took silver with 240.1 points, and Uzbekistan's Vladimir Svechnikov claimed bronze.
After the event, Bu acknowledged that there were still many shortcomings in his performance that he needed to summarize and address in future training.
"I'm still growing as an athlete and need to keep accumulating experience from major international competitions," Bu said of the upcoming Asian Games in Nagoya.
Three gold medals will be decided on Monday, in the women's 25m sport pistol, men's trap and women's trap events.
