19-year-old shooting prodigy Ban Hyo-jin has claimed her second consecutive victory at the World Championships.
After finishing first overall in the women's 10m air rifle preliminary round at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, Ban delivered a golden come-from-behind show in the eight-person final.
Although she was in second place after the first ten shots, trailing China's Han Jiayu by 1.1 points, she showed fierce closing stamina during the elimination stage where one shooter is knocked out every two shots.
Taking deep breaths and pulling the trigger calmly, she gradually narrowed the gap. After tying the score on her 18th shot, she successfully turned the tables with a 0.1-point lead on her 20th shot.
On her 21st shot, she pierced the exact center of the target with a 10.9, drawing gasps of admiration.
Having secured the momentum, Ban finished her last two shots with 10.6 and 10.4 for a total of 253.1 points. After completing a 0.9-point comeback victory, she smiled lightly and waved to celebrate her second consecutive title.
Following her surprise gold medal at the Paris Olympics just three years after taking up shooting, and her first World Championships win last year, Ban has now claimed her second World Championships gold medal before even turning 20.
[Ban Hyo-jin / National Shooting Team Member : The first series didn't go well, so I felt a bit of pressure. But I tried to keep my mind at ease by thinking, instead of aiming for the gold medal, I should just try to finish in the top three.]
By standing proudly at the top of the podium at this tournament, which awards three LA Olympics quota places per event, she also secured one LA ticket for South Korean shooting.
[Ban Hyo-jin / National Shooting Team Member : Since this (tournament) was the first international competition to award Olympic quotas, I thought to myself that we should start by securing one from the first event, so I really wanted to win (a medal).]
Ban also created a heartwarming moment by placing her medal around the neck of her junior teammate Choi Ye-in, who had lost the opportunity to compete due to an omission in the Korea Shooting Federation's entry application.
Reported by Kim Hyeong-yeol | Video by Lee Hong-myeong | Produced by SBS Digital News
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