China won the first gold medal of the 2014 Asian Games on Saturday when its women shooters — Olympic champion Guo Wenjun, Zhang Mengyuan and Zhou Qingyuan — clinched the 10m air pistol team title.
Hosts and defending champions South Korea, who were the pre-Games favourites, finished a poor fourth behind silver-medallists Taiwan and Mongolia.
Medal winners are decided by combining the qualification scores of each team member, a rule that ruined South Korea’s chances.
The home team’s Kim Jang-Mi and newly-crowned world champion Jung Jee-Hae took the first two positions in the qualifying round, but team-mate Oh Mink-Yung came in 28th.
The Chinese shot consistently with Guo, who won the 10m individual title at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, finishing third, Zhang seventh and Zhou eighth.
The top eight shooters in the qualifying round will contest the individual final later Saturday. – Agence France-Presse
