(Reuters) – China’s Xiong Yaxuan set a world record in the 25 metre pistol event at the Chinese shooting Olympic qualification series on Friday to qualify for this year’s Tokyo Games.
Xiong finished with 44 hits, four better than Hungarian Veronika Major’s previous record set at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi two years ago.
“Of course, I’m very excited. Everyone standing here wants to represent our country at the Olympics and has been giving their all for it,” the 24-year-old Xiong, who will compete in her first Olympics, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
“All my team mates are capable of producing good results, but they’re somewhat too nervous today. I’m comparatively under less pressure, so I just tried to give my best.”
Xiao Jiaruixuan also qualified for the Games by finishing ahead of Zhang Jingjing.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
