Jens Olrud Oestli's disappointment in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final was short lived after securing the 50m rifle prone title today in Lima, Peru, at the ISSF Junior World Championships.
China's Yao Jianan was dominant in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol final to claim a title too, while Ukraine secured the 50m rifle prone team title.
Men's 50m Rifle Prone Competition
Oestli, the defending champion in the event, arrived as the favourite - but he was just two days removed from a difficult end to the 50m rifle 3 positions final. Leading comfortable into the single-shot section, American Braden Peiser and Victor Lindgren slowly ate away at his lead and unbelievably, he was eliminated in third after only scoring 7.5 in his last round.
This time, the Norwegian was seeking gold again. While the first of his six series was understated - scoring his worst total of 103.1 - he would improve quickly. A second score of 106.4 was by far the best of the competition and took him to the top of the standings.
Lindgren, seeking another medal, started well alongside his Swedish teammate Jesper Johansson. Ferenc Toeroek from Hungary was amongst the contenders, as was India's Parikshit Singh Brar, Norway's Even Olai Enger Throndsen and Poland's Wiktor Sajdak.
While Throndsen and Sajdak would lose contact, the other five started to form the top contenders for the title.
Toeroek would take the lead after series four ahead of Johansson and Oestli, having excelled in series two and three, while the Swede's greatest scores came in series three and four. Lindgren and Brar had lost touch with those top three.
Oestli would outscore his closest challengers in the final two series, ending with a 104.6 - enough to increase the gap to Johansson and Toeroek. With a total of 625.0 was enough to beat Johansson on 623.6 and Toeroek on 623.4. Strong finishes from Lindgren and Brar were not enough to secure medals, finishing on 623.3 and 623.0 respectively.
After the scores were totalled, the team gold medal went to Ukraine's Oleksii Viatchin, Danylo Hrynyk and Ivan Tkalenko with a score of 1860.9. Johansson and Lindgren's performances helped Sweden take silver with a score of 1859.0, supported by Pontus Kallin. Bronze went to Norway's Oestli, Throndsen and Isak Gurrik with a score of 1858.6.
Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Final
There was little doubt Yao Jianan from China would take the gold medal after a strong start. With just three misses from 15 in the first competition stage, he led Poland's Tomasz Jedraszczyk on 11, France's Yan Chesnel on nine and India's Raajwardan Paatil on eight.
During the eliminations, Mukesh Nelavalli from India and France's Thomas Clement Chinours finished fifth and sixth, but the contest got closer further up. While Yao had created a five-point gap to his nearest rivals, Chesnel and Jedraszczyk were able to hold off Paatil to seal medals for themselves.
In the next elimination stage, the French and Polish athletes were engaged in a shoot-off, which Chesnel won. While he was victorious in making the final elimination stage, Yao had increased his lead to eight, meaning he had already confirmed the gold medal, finishing on a total of 31 to Chesnel's 23.