Serbia's Damir Mikec started his season with a narrow victory in the men's 10m air pistol final, needing a shoot-off to defeat Juraj Tuzinsky at the ISSF Grand Prix in Ruse, Slovenia.
Off the back of a successful 2024 season - which saw him make the Olympic final individually and become an Olympic champion with teammate Zorana Arunovic in the mixed team discipline - Mikec was one of the favourites for the title, but the Slovakian Tuzinsky would be hard to beat.
Tuzinsky, the defending champion in Ruse and the Cairo ISSF World Cup winner last season, traded the lead with the Serbian throughout the elimination stage and had pulled out a lead of 0.7 points going into the two shots to determine gold. A 9.5 from Tuzinksy and an impressive 10.8 from Mikec would contribute to the pair tying with a total of 242.7.
In the shoot-off, it was a clear win for Mikec who scored 10.5 to Tuzinsky's 8.5 in what was an exciting final. Jindrich Dubovy, after a long battle with his Czech teammate Pavel Schejbal, would claim the bronze medal.
Poland started the event well with a one-two in the mixed team 10m air rifle event.
Julia Piotrowska and Maciej Kowalewicz faced Izabella Dudek and Tomasz Bartnik for the gold medal after both teams emerged as the top two in qualification.
For most of the contest, Piotrowska and Kowalewicz held the lead, with both duos taking turns to win series, until Piotrowska and Kowalewicz extended their lead to four and then secured the win with another series victory, with the score finishing 16-10.
Croatians Marta Zeljkovic and Josip Sikavica came from behind to defeat Israel's Olga Tashtchiev and Sergey Richter 17-15 in a final-shot decider, for the bronze medal.
There was plenty to cheer about for home fans as Manja Slak held off the Georgians of Mariami Prodiashvili and Mariami Marshava for the women's 10m air pistol gold medal.
Prodiashvili was the early leader in the competition, holding a comfortable gap to Slak, while Marshava and Nigar Nasirova of Azerbaijan looked in a scuffle for bronze. The top two momentarily were tied, but the Georgian took the lead again with just four shots to go. At the same time, Marshava had edged out Nasirova to take the bronze.
Slak brought the gap down to 0.3 points with two shots to go at the top and a mix of consistent shooting under pressure and an underwhelming final shot from Prodiashvili - who scored 8.5 to the Slovenian's 10.2 - made it a popular victory for the 18-year-old.