China's Hu Kai made it six wins from seven appearances this season in the men's 10m air pistol, taking advantage of opponents' mistakes to win the gold medal at the 2025 ISSF World Cup Final in Doha, Qatar.
Hu went from a close fight to stay in medal contention, to overtaking both Christian Reitz of Germany and India's world champion Samrat Rana in the final four shots as massive points swings determined the outcome of the final.
Qualification
Poetic in its narrative, Hu Kai of China and India's Samrat Rana were top of the table with a total of 584, showing a preview of the rivalry that started in Cairo last month when the young Indian upset the undefeated Hu for the gold medal at the ISSF World Championship.
AIN athlete Anton Aristarkhov was level with them until the last series, finishing third on 583, followed by Christian Reitz of Germany and Xie Yu of China on 581 and 580.
Four athletes would score 578, with only three spots left. Varun Tomar of India got himself into the final with a score of 99 in his sixth series, with 25 perfect shots. You Changjie of China had 22 shots in the inner ring and Jason Solari of Switzerland had 19 to make the top eight. The athlete to miss out would be Brazil's Felipe Wu, who was just one short of Solari in ninth.
Valeriy Rakhimzhan of Kazakhstan and Mohammed Nasser A A Al-Yafei finished 10th and 11th.
Hu went from a close fight to stay in medal contention, to overtaking both Christian Reitz of Germany and India's world champion Samrat Rana in the final four shots as massive points swings determined the outcome of the final.
Qualification
Poetic in its narrative, Hu Kai of China and India's Samrat Rana were top of the table with a total of 584, showing a preview of the rivalry that started in Cairo last month when the young Indian upset the undefeated Hu for the gold medal at the ISSF World Championship.
AIN athlete Anton Aristarkhov was level with them until the last series, finishing third on 583, followed by Christian Reitz of Germany and Xie Yu of China on 581 and 580.
Four athletes would score 578, with only three spots left. Varun Tomar of India got himself into the final with a score of 99 in his sixth series, with 25 perfect shots. You Changjie of China had 22 shots in the inner ring and Jason Solari of Switzerland had 19 to make the top eight. The athlete to miss out would be Brazil's Felipe Wu, who was just one short of Solari in ninth.
Valeriy Rakhimzhan of Kazakhstan and Mohammed Nasser A A Al-Yafei finished 10th and 11th.
The Final
Hu Kai and Samrat Rana were the athletes most in form coming to Doha and it was the Chinese athlete who took the lead after five shots, followed by Rana's Indian teammate Varun Tomar and Jason Solari and Christian Reitz. Rana was nearly a point behind at this stage, but picked up momentum in the next five shots, with highlights being a 10.6 and a 10.7.
He would fall behind again after going toe-to-toe with Hu when he recorded a 9.3 on his 10th shot. Solari's double 10.6 helped him to the top of the standings, level with Hu on 101.4. They were followed by Rana on 101.0 and Tomar on 101.0. Reitz and the Olympic champion Xie Yu sat close behind them on 100.9 and 100.5. The gap to the bottom two, Anton Aristarkhov and You Changjie was significant and they would exit the competition first, having finished the first competition stage on 98.0 and 97.3 respectively.
You would leave first with 9.6 and 9.5 not being enough. Despite his best shooting in the final - with five consecutive shots with a score above 10 - Aristarkhov placed seventh.
At the front of the field, Rana started the elimination stage with a 10.5 and 10.4 to take the lead, marginally ahead of Reitz by 0.1 and Hu and Tomar by 0.3. A 9.1 for Solari saw him drop quickly.
The second elimination series saw then saw Rana sink to fifth with a 9.1 and 9.5. Conversely, his teammate scored 10.6 and 10.2 to take the lead by 0.4 ahead of Hu. A gap began to form behind as Reitz sat 1.2 off the lead, followed by Solari.
Hu Kai and Samrat Rana were the athletes most in form coming to Doha and it was the Chinese athlete who took the lead after five shots, followed by Rana's Indian teammate Varun Tomar and Jason Solari and Christian Reitz. Rana was nearly a point behind at this stage, but picked up momentum in the next five shots, with highlights being a 10.6 and a 10.7.
He would fall behind again after going toe-to-toe with Hu when he recorded a 9.3 on his 10th shot. Solari's double 10.6 helped him to the top of the standings, level with Hu on 101.4. They were followed by Rana on 101.0 and Tomar on 101.0. Reitz and the Olympic champion Xie Yu sat close behind them on 100.9 and 100.5. The gap to the bottom two, Anton Aristarkhov and You Changjie was significant and they would exit the competition first, having finished the first competition stage on 98.0 and 97.3 respectively.
You would leave first with 9.6 and 9.5 not being enough. Despite his best shooting in the final - with five consecutive shots with a score above 10 - Aristarkhov placed seventh.
At the front of the field, Rana started the elimination stage with a 10.5 and 10.4 to take the lead, marginally ahead of Reitz by 0.1 and Hu and Tomar by 0.3. A 9.1 for Solari saw him drop quickly.
The second elimination series saw then saw Rana sink to fifth with a 9.1 and 9.5. Conversely, his teammate scored 10.6 and 10.2 to take the lead by 0.4 ahead of Hu. A gap began to form behind as Reitz sat 1.2 off the lead, followed by Solari.
Reitz Gets it Right to Go Top
As the athletes continued to swap places, anyone could be eliminated in sixth place - but Xie Yu occupied that danger spot. His 10.1 was pivotal in his battle with Rana, who scored 9.8, to bring them level. Solari was still not safe, only 0.6 ahead of them, with Reitz in third with a 10.3. Hu would take the lead thanks to his 10.6 as Tomar scored 9.8.
Rana would not buckle under pressure, scoring a 10.5 to eliminate the Olympic champion, who hit the target with a 10.1. Solari would drop behind the Indian into fifth place too, as Hu held onto the lead by 0.1 over Reitz, with Tomar in third.
Hu would struggle in his next two shots, scoring just 9.9 and 9.5 which saw him drop to third, tied with Tomar. Both Tomar and Solari scored high on their second shot and needed to after Rana scored 10.5 to jump far away from them. Even with a 10.6 from the Swiss athlete, it would not be enough to close the gap as Tomar scored 10.8 and Rana scored 10.6.
Up front, Christian Reitz was looking tremendous, scoring a 10.6 and 10.4 to take the lead by 1.1. He would follow this with a solid total of 20.0, but would be outdone by Rana, who took the gap down to 0.3 after he scored a 10.9 on his second shot. Another 9.9 for Hu saw the gap grow above him and see him drop below Tomar with one more shot. Tomar's 9.5 would see him drop back behind Hu and finish in fourth.
As the athletes continued to swap places, anyone could be eliminated in sixth place - but Xie Yu occupied that danger spot. His 10.1 was pivotal in his battle with Rana, who scored 9.8, to bring them level. Solari was still not safe, only 0.6 ahead of them, with Reitz in third with a 10.3. Hu would take the lead thanks to his 10.6 as Tomar scored 9.8.
Rana would not buckle under pressure, scoring a 10.5 to eliminate the Olympic champion, who hit the target with a 10.1. Solari would drop behind the Indian into fifth place too, as Hu held onto the lead by 0.1 over Reitz, with Tomar in third.
Hu would struggle in his next two shots, scoring just 9.9 and 9.5 which saw him drop to third, tied with Tomar. Both Tomar and Solari scored high on their second shot and needed to after Rana scored 10.5 to jump far away from them. Even with a 10.6 from the Swiss athlete, it would not be enough to close the gap as Tomar scored 10.8 and Rana scored 10.6.
Up front, Christian Reitz was looking tremendous, scoring a 10.6 and 10.4 to take the lead by 1.1. He would follow this with a solid total of 20.0, but would be outdone by Rana, who took the gap down to 0.3 after he scored a 10.9 on his second shot. Another 9.9 for Hu saw the gap grow above him and see him drop below Tomar with one more shot. Tomar's 9.5 would see him drop back behind Hu and finish in fourth.
Rana and Reitz See Eights, Hu Reels Back for Win
With three to go, the two favourites sat behind one of the fan favourites and one of the most-decorated pistol shooters on the circuit, Christian Reitz.
Reitz would start with a 10.5 to move further ahead, as Hu Kai would score 10.1. Hoping to close the gap, he may not have expected to move into second, as Rana scored 8.4 - a shock score that put the Indian 0.4 behind.
Hu would pull out a game-changing score when he needed to - scoring 10.8 as Rana would exit with a respectable 10.3. Anything can happen in shooting, and that showed again when Reitz scored low too with an 8.4 of his own on his third-to-last shot. His lead of two points was gone. The Chinese athlete now had the advantage.
Hu extended the lead with a 10.5 on his penultimate effort as the German scored 10.2. Now a gap of 0.7, Reitz's final score of 9.8 would not be enough, as Hu finished with a 10.1. Just when he looked out of it being 1.6 behind with four shots to go, Hu delivered once again as he won on his ISSF World Cup Final debut.
It means the Chinese athlete finishes the season in the men's 10m air pistol with four ISSF World Cup gold medals, the Asian title, the ISSF World Cup Final gold medal and a silver at the ISSF World Championship. He failed to win only once this season. Six wins from seven appearances.
Christian Reitz has long focused on the 25m distance, with seven medals including two golds at the ISSF World Cup Final. This would be his eighth medal and the first in this event for the 38-year-old. Samrat Rana only made his ISSF World Cup debut in the season ender in Ningbo this year and comes away with a bronze on his ISSF World Cup Final debut.
With three to go, the two favourites sat behind one of the fan favourites and one of the most-decorated pistol shooters on the circuit, Christian Reitz.
Reitz would start with a 10.5 to move further ahead, as Hu Kai would score 10.1. Hoping to close the gap, he may not have expected to move into second, as Rana scored 8.4 - a shock score that put the Indian 0.4 behind.
Hu would pull out a game-changing score when he needed to - scoring 10.8 as Rana would exit with a respectable 10.3. Anything can happen in shooting, and that showed again when Reitz scored low too with an 8.4 of his own on his third-to-last shot. His lead of two points was gone. The Chinese athlete now had the advantage.
Hu extended the lead with a 10.5 on his penultimate effort as the German scored 10.2. Now a gap of 0.7, Reitz's final score of 9.8 would not be enough, as Hu finished with a 10.1. Just when he looked out of it being 1.6 behind with four shots to go, Hu delivered once again as he won on his ISSF World Cup Final debut.
It means the Chinese athlete finishes the season in the men's 10m air pistol with four ISSF World Cup gold medals, the Asian title, the ISSF World Cup Final gold medal and a silver at the ISSF World Championship. He failed to win only once this season. Six wins from seven appearances.
Christian Reitz has long focused on the 25m distance, with seven medals including two golds at the ISSF World Cup Final. This would be his eighth medal and the first in this event for the 38-year-old. Samrat Rana only made his ISSF World Cup debut in the season ender in Ningbo this year and comes away with a bronze on his ISSF World Cup Final debut.
What the Athletes Had to Say
Hu Kai: "This is the first time I've been in the World Cup Final and it's a great honour for me to compete with the best shooters around the world on the same stage. There were some ups and downs, but I just tried to focus on the competition itself and each shot and try and do my best.
"First of all, it's an amazing year for me. I have won so many medals throughout this year and I think I'm not that good to deserve so many medals. So next, I'm going to prepare to be better."
Christian Reitz: "It was a great competition and a hard competition for me. The qualification was not easy-going and the final I had a good start and at the end a silver medal, perfect.
"Sometimes one or two bad shots could decide if you get a medal or not and for me, the eight at the end, maybe it cost me the gold medal, but at the end, a medal is a medal and in air pistol, it's my first World Cup Final medal.
"For me, it was a great season. I think I only missed one final at the European Championships in air pistol. A lot of good qualifications and results and now I train a little bit for the finals."
Samrat Rana: "I like this range and winning bronze in my first-ever World Cup Final is a great achievement. It was quite tough but I definitely enjoyed the final. I think I was struggling in the last two shots, but I'm still happy. I'm getting quite confident competing with the world and Olympic champions."
Hu Kai: "This is the first time I've been in the World Cup Final and it's a great honour for me to compete with the best shooters around the world on the same stage. There were some ups and downs, but I just tried to focus on the competition itself and each shot and try and do my best.
"First of all, it's an amazing year for me. I have won so many medals throughout this year and I think I'm not that good to deserve so many medals. So next, I'm going to prepare to be better."
Christian Reitz: "It was a great competition and a hard competition for me. The qualification was not easy-going and the final I had a good start and at the end a silver medal, perfect.
"Sometimes one or two bad shots could decide if you get a medal or not and for me, the eight at the end, maybe it cost me the gold medal, but at the end, a medal is a medal and in air pistol, it's my first World Cup Final medal.
"For me, it was a great season. I think I only missed one final at the European Championships in air pistol. A lot of good qualifications and results and now I train a little bit for the finals."
Samrat Rana: "I like this range and winning bronze in my first-ever World Cup Final is a great achievement. It was quite tough but I definitely enjoyed the final. I think I was struggling in the last two shots, but I'm still happy. I'm getting quite confident competing with the world and Olympic champions."