Wu Mingyang was one of two Chinese gold medallists on the opening day of the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning ©ISSF

China dominated the first day of competition at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Fort Benning, winning the women's 10 metres air rifle and men's 10m air pistol events through Wu Mingyang and Wu Jiayu respectively. 

Wu Mingyang led a Chinese podium sweep in the air rifle competition, claiming victory in front of team-mates Zhu Yingjie and Zhao Ruozhu at the United States army base on the Alabama-Georgia border.

Firing 23 of her 24 shots inside the 10th ring, Wu secured the gold medal with 252.2 points.

Zhu, the 2017 junior world champion in the event, took silver with 251.8 points.

The 18-year-old earlier posted a qualification world record with 633.4 points.

The bronze medal was awarded to Zhao, the holder of the event's world record, with 230.2 points.

The medal-winning trio owned the top three positions throughout the match, distancing themselves from their rivals with an impressive series of 10s from the start of the elimination stage onwards. 

Denmark's Stine Nielsen finished fourth with 206.9 points, while the US's Virginia Thrasher, the reigning Olympic champion, came fifth in front of her home crowd with 186.3.

China's Wu Jiayu came out on top in the men's 10m air pistol event ©ISSF
China's Wu Jiayu came out on top in the men's 10m air pistol event ©ISSF

In the air pistol event, Wu Jiayu beat fellow Chinese Wang Meng Yi to the gold medal.

Competing in the second ISSF World Cup of his young career, 21-year-old Wu improved significantly on the 12th place-finish he obtained at last month's World Cup in Changwon in South Korea, winning with 241.2 points.

Standing in fifth place after the two five-shot series, Wu opened the elimination stage by firing five consecutive shots inside the 10th ring, including a perfect 10.9 points on his 15th, and went into the final two-shot series 0.5 behind Wang.

There, Wu scored a disappointing 9.4 points with his 23rd shot, to which Wang answered with a 9.7.

In the final and decisive shot, however, Wu shot a fantastic 10.6 points to Wang’s 9.6, overtaking his rival and triumphing by a narrow margin of 0.2.

The podium was completed by Spain's Pablo Carrera, a two-time World Cup gold medallist in the event.

He finished with 220.6 points, only 0.6 behind Wu at the time of elimination, to secure his seventh World Cup medal overall.

The third stage of the ISSF World Cup is due to continue tomorrow with the finals in the men's 50m rifle three positions and women’s 25m pistol both scheduled.