Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions
Jeanette Hegg Duestad looked to finish the story in her quest for her first women's 50m rifle 3 positions title, having come close in 2022 when she last competed at the World Championship in Cairo.
But the Norwegian's victory had to hard-earned, in a final that saw interesting results across the board. Republic of Korea's Oh See-hee would lead Duestad after the kneeling section, only for Duestad to take the lead after prone shooting, marginally ahead of the Swiss prodigy Emely Jaeggi.
This final had narratives everywhere. Jaeggi was joined by her sister Vivien, while Koreans Oh See-hee and Im Ha-na were in serious contention. Seonaid McIntosh was also in her first competition since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Im and Oh had their respective mistakes that took them out of contention. Oh would sit third before an 8.7 on his second single shot would leave her out in fifth. McIntosh was superb in the single shots, saving herself from elimination on two occasions. Two 10.8s, a 10.4 and a 10.3 would push her into bronze, just shy of the silver and denying the Jaeggi sisters a double podium.
For Duestad, it was a day to remember after so many close calls. She would beat Emely Jaeggi to the gold medal, with her opponent equalling the junior world record.
Jeanette Hegg Duestad looked to finish the story in her quest for her first women's 50m rifle 3 positions title, having come close in 2022 when she last competed at the World Championship in Cairo.
But the Norwegian's victory had to hard-earned, in a final that saw interesting results across the board. Republic of Korea's Oh See-hee would lead Duestad after the kneeling section, only for Duestad to take the lead after prone shooting, marginally ahead of the Swiss prodigy Emely Jaeggi.
This final had narratives everywhere. Jaeggi was joined by her sister Vivien, while Koreans Oh See-hee and Im Ha-na were in serious contention. Seonaid McIntosh was also in her first competition since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Im and Oh had their respective mistakes that took them out of contention. Oh would sit third before an 8.7 on his second single shot would leave her out in fifth. McIntosh was superb in the single shots, saving herself from elimination on two occasions. Two 10.8s, a 10.4 and a 10.3 would push her into bronze, just shy of the silver and denying the Jaeggi sisters a double podium.
For Duestad, it was a day to remember after so many close calls. She would beat Emely Jaeggi to the gold medal, with her opponent equalling the junior world record.
Men's 10m Air Pistol
Hu Kai was unstoppable - until he wasn't.
The Chinese athlete had five wins from five heading to Cairo and would have been aiming for an undefeated season. The man to stop this was an unlikely challenger - India's Samrat Rana, who had only made his senior debut at the ISSF World Cup in Ningbo.
Hu, Rana and Varun Tomar were in a three-way battle for the title, until Tomar lost touch with five shots to go. Hu took a 0.1 lead over Rana with two shots to go, but would be undone by a 9.5, as the Indian scored with quality twice to deliver a massive upset.
Hu Kai was unstoppable - until he wasn't.
The Chinese athlete had five wins from five heading to Cairo and would have been aiming for an undefeated season. The man to stop this was an unlikely challenger - India's Samrat Rana, who had only made his senior debut at the ISSF World Cup in Ningbo.
Hu, Rana and Varun Tomar were in a three-way battle for the title, until Tomar lost touch with five shots to go. Hu took a 0.1 lead over Rana with two shots to go, but would be undone by a 9.5, as the Indian scored with quality twice to deliver a massive upset.
Women's 10m Air Pistol
You could throw a blanket over the athletes going into the elimination stage of the women's 10m air pistol, with 0.4 separating the top six.
What came next was a crucial lesson in making every shot count. It saw the departure of Manu Bhaker in seventh and then caught her Indian teammate Esha Singh out two shots later.
Hong Kong's Shing Ho Ching made hers count as she scored 10.0 and above in eight of her first 10 shots in the elimination stage, including a 10.9. In the final few series, being solid but not spectacular was the difference between survival and elimination, but Shing's 8.6 going into the last series was what would keep her from having a chance of the gold.
But Yao Qianxun's quality under pressure was the real deciding factor. A 10.7 and 10.0 was followed by a 10.7 and 10.6. Solid final series scores would ensure she took the win.
You could throw a blanket over the athletes going into the elimination stage of the women's 10m air pistol, with 0.4 separating the top six.
What came next was a crucial lesson in making every shot count. It saw the departure of Manu Bhaker in seventh and then caught her Indian teammate Esha Singh out two shots later.
Hong Kong's Shing Ho Ching made hers count as she scored 10.0 and above in eight of her first 10 shots in the elimination stage, including a 10.9. In the final few series, being solid but not spectacular was the difference between survival and elimination, but Shing's 8.6 going into the last series was what would keep her from having a chance of the gold.
But Yao Qianxun's quality under pressure was the real deciding factor. A 10.7 and 10.0 was followed by a 10.7 and 10.6. Solid final series scores would ensure she took the win.
Men's Trap
The men's trap final in Athens brought an interesting group of athletes into the top six, with the American William Hinton being the only athlete to make the podium in the 2025 ISSF season, following his World Cup victory in Lima and bronze in Buenos Aires.
There was a mix of unknown entities and well-known veterans in the field. On one hand was the Spanish world junior champion Andres Garcia, the 21-year-old who was in his first senior final. There was also India's Zoravar Singh Sandhu, the 48-year-old whose best World Championship result came back in 1998 in Barcelona when he finished 15th. He had just one World Cup medal dating back to 2007 and had not made an ISSF final since 2017.
France's 47-year-old Antonin Desert was in his second World Championship final and to date had just two finals on the ISSF World Cup circuit. Also included were Croatian brothers Josip and Anton Glasnovic, two of the most experienced athletes in men's trap shooting. Josip was the Rio 2016 Olympic champion and the world bronze medallist from 2005, while Anton was a world silver medallist from 2013.
Garcia had the lead at the halfway stage, with the Glasnovic brothers and Sandhu were just two behind. Quickly, Anton's misses dropped him out in fourth and Sandhu missed three in the next five to drop out after the top three had been close together. It was an impressive performance for Josip Glasnovic, who missed just once in his last 25 shots to win his first world title, 20 years on from his world bronze. It denied Garcia becoming the first junior-senior world champion in consecutive seasons.
The men's trap final in Athens brought an interesting group of athletes into the top six, with the American William Hinton being the only athlete to make the podium in the 2025 ISSF season, following his World Cup victory in Lima and bronze in Buenos Aires.
There was a mix of unknown entities and well-known veterans in the field. On one hand was the Spanish world junior champion Andres Garcia, the 21-year-old who was in his first senior final. There was also India's Zoravar Singh Sandhu, the 48-year-old whose best World Championship result came back in 1998 in Barcelona when he finished 15th. He had just one World Cup medal dating back to 2007 and had not made an ISSF final since 2017.
France's 47-year-old Antonin Desert was in his second World Championship final and to date had just two finals on the ISSF World Cup circuit. Also included were Croatian brothers Josip and Anton Glasnovic, two of the most experienced athletes in men's trap shooting. Josip was the Rio 2016 Olympic champion and the world bronze medallist from 2005, while Anton was a world silver medallist from 2013.
Garcia had the lead at the halfway stage, with the Glasnovic brothers and Sandhu were just two behind. Quickly, Anton's misses dropped him out in fourth and Sandhu missed three in the next five to drop out after the top three had been close together. It was an impressive performance for Josip Glasnovic, who missed just once in his last 25 shots to win his first world title, 20 years on from his world bronze. It denied Garcia becoming the first junior-senior world champion in consecutive seasons.
Women's 25m Pistol
Olympic champion Yang Ji-in looked to win a world title one year after her victory at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but faced the in-form Yao Qianxun of China and Esha Singh of India for the crown.
A great start for the Korean put her in the lead, but was soon joined by Yao and Singh at the end of the first competition stage. She built up a gap to the rest of the field, with Yao closest behind by two and Manu Bhaker by three.
But pistol events can be cruel and Bhaker's challenge started to fall apart with four misses from her next five. She would sit joint-third with Singh and France's Mathilde Lamolle, while Yang's two misses and a perfect series from Yao brought them onto 24. The top two remained level, as did the other three, which saw a three-way shoot-off and the exit of Bhaker.
The top two remained deadlocked until the last 10 shots, which saw Yang score nine to secure the gold.
Olympic champion Yang Ji-in looked to win a world title one year after her victory at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but faced the in-form Yao Qianxun of China and Esha Singh of India for the crown.
A great start for the Korean put her in the lead, but was soon joined by Yao and Singh at the end of the first competition stage. She built up a gap to the rest of the field, with Yao closest behind by two and Manu Bhaker by three.
But pistol events can be cruel and Bhaker's challenge started to fall apart with four misses from her next five. She would sit joint-third with Singh and France's Mathilde Lamolle, while Yang's two misses and a perfect series from Yao brought them onto 24. The top two remained level, as did the other three, which saw a three-way shoot-off and the exit of Bhaker.
The top two remained deadlocked until the last 10 shots, which saw Yang score nine to secure the gold.