Lee Geon-hyuk Claims Rapid Fire Pistol Gold After Double Shoot-off, Secures Two Medals

Lee Geon-hyuk (Daegu Public Facilities Management Corporation) has claimed two gold medals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Lee clinched the title in the men's 25m rapid fire pistol individual final at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Range in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today (October 1), defeating China's Su Lianbofan with a score of 32 (9 in total shoot-offs) following a tense battle that went down to a second shoot-off.

Having already secured a gold medal in the team event during the preliminary rounds held earlier, Lee captured his second gold of the competition in the individual event.

This marks the first time in 12 years, since Kim Jun-hong at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, that South Korean rapid fire pistol shooters have swept both the individual and team titles at the Asian Games.

The rapid fire pistol final uses a hit-or-miss system rather than a cumulative numerical score, awarding 1 point for a hit and 0 for a miss.

A shot must score 9.7 or higher on the target to be counted as a "hit."

The eight finalists each shoot two series of five shots within four seconds, with eliminations beginning in earnest from the third series.

In the third series, the 7th and 8th place shooters are eliminated, and from the fourth series onward, the lowest-ranking shooter leaves the firing line one by one.

South Korea started smoothly as Lee Geon-hyuk led the field with 13 hits through the third series, while Yoon Seo-young tied for fourth with 11 hits.

However, in the fourth series, Yoon Seo-young hit only one out of five shots, dropping to sixth place and resulting in his elimination.


Left as the sole remaining South Korean competitor, Lee Geon-hyuk recorded a "perfect series" by hitting all five shots in the fifth series, engaging in a tight battle for the lead with China's Su Lianbofan, who had advanced to the finals in first place.

At the end of the fifth series, Lee led with 21 points to Su's 20.

In the sixth series, Lee hit four shots and Su hit three, widening the gap to 25-23.

Having guaranteed at least a bronze medal through the sixth series, Lee hit three shots in the seventh series (bringing his cumulative total to 28 points), allowing Su (cumulative 27 points), who hit four, to close the gap.

Pakistan's Ghulam Mustafa Bashir, who was competing alongside the two leaders, hit only one shot in the seventh series and took the bronze medal with 22 points.

In the final eighth series, Su Lianbofan, who stepped up to the firing line first, hit all five shots. Lee missed one, resulting in a 32-32 tie and forcing the two athletes into a shoot-off where they fired five additional shots.

Both shooters hit four shots each in the first shoot-off, leading them into a second shoot-off.

Su, shooting first, managed to hit only two shots, while Lee hit all five to capture the gold medal.

With two additional gold medals in the rapid fire pistol event—the final schedule of the competition—South Korea wrapped up the Games with 3 golds, 5 silvers, and 4 bronzes.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.