Doha (Qatar), Dec 8 (NationPress) China's Olympic bronze medallist Jiang Yiting achieved an impressive feat by scoring a perfect 36 out of 36 targets to secure the women's skeet championship at the ISSF World Cup Final held in Doha on Monday. Jiang, who won mixed team bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, excelled in the qualification round with a total of 123 hits, matching her own junior world record.

The Asian champion maintained her impressive performance in the final, starting off strong and finishing without any mistakes, ultimately triumphing over defending champion and world champion Samantha Simonton from the USA.

"This medal is truly a surprise for me, and I am incredibly delighted to win gold, especially since this is only my second ISSF World Cup Final," expressed the 21-year-old, who had ranked sixth in her World Cup Final debut in 2023. "The new format posed a challenge for me, but through daily training sessions, which included specialized training for this new format, I felt confident going into the competition."

Simonton, who has secured two golds and two silvers from four World Cups this year, claimed the silver medal with 34 hits. Emmanouela Katzouraki of Greece finished third with 28 hits, while China's Che Yufei placed fourth, according to reports from Xinhua.

In the men's skeet event, Christian Elliott also hit all 36 targets, leading an all-American podium, followed by four-time Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock with 35 hits and Dustan Taylor with 31.

"The new format is fast-paced. It's akin to a sprint," noted Elliott. "With eight athletes competing, it truly is a race; it rewards perfection, but I anticipate that some athletes may be flawless in the initial rounds yet fail to advance, emphasizing the importance of a strong qualification score to secure a good position."

In the women's trap final, Olympic silver medalist Silvana Maria Stanco from Italy narrowly defeated Alessandra Perilli of San Marino after both scored 26 out of 30 in two rounds of shoot-off. Rumeysa Pelin Kaya from Türkiye took home the bronze.

The men's trap gold was awarded to William Hinton of the USA with 29 hits, while Olympic bronze medalist Jean Pierre Brol Cardenas of Guatemala followed closely with 28 hits, and Walton Eller from the USA rounded out the podium in third place. China's Olympic silver medalist Qi Ying finished fifth.

At the conclusion of the World Cup Final, China topped the medal tally with four golds, two silvers, and three bronzes. India secured second place with two golds, three silvers, and one bronze, while the United States placed third with an equal tally of two golds, two silvers, and two bronzes.