On August 18 (Beijing time), Chinese shooter Hu Kai claimed the men’s 10m air pistol title at the 2025 Asian Shooting Championships, securing the tournament’s very first gold medal with a total score of 241.6 points.

Hu entered the final ranked second after scoring 585 points in the qualification round. Currently world No. 4, Hu was the highest-ranked athlete among all finalists and the strongest favorite for gold, having already won three consecutive World Cup titles in this event earlier this year.

The final, however, did not begin smoothly for him. Hu scored only 99.6 points in the first two shooting series, placing him third. After 14 shots, he trailed South Korea’s Hong Su-hyun by 2.4 points. But Hu quickly regained composure—firing 9.9 and 10.7 in his next two shots. Meanwhile, Hong faltered with an 8.8 on his 16th attempt, allowing Hu to close the gap to just 0.6 points.

Hu then delivered a steady 10.1 and 10.2, while Hong responded with 10.0 and 8.6, giving Hu the lead for the first time and a 1.1-point advantage.

With only two shots remaining, Hu’s lead had grown to 2.1 points. On his 23rd shot, he hit 10.0, while Hong scored 10.5, narrowing the gap to 1.6 points. In the decisive final shot, Hu kept calm and delivered a 10.6 to seal the victory, while Hong managed only a 9.6. In the end, Hu secured the gold medal by a margin of 2.6 points.

Two years ago, Hu made his Asian Championships debut in Changwon, South Korea, where he won silver in the men’s 10m air pistol youth event. This time, he upgraded that silver to gold.