Shooting Prodigy Ban Hyo-jin Conquers the World Again: Olympic Gold and Second Consecutive World Championship Title at 19

19-year-old shooting prodigy Ban Hyo-jin has claimed the top spot at the World Championships for the second consecutive time.

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.

During the first ten shots, she trailed China's Han Jiayu by 1.1 points to sit in second place, but showed fierce late-game momentum in the elimination stage where one shooter is knocked out every two shots.

Taking deep breaths and calmly firing, she gradually narrowed the gap, tying the score on her 18th shot and successfully pulling off a comeback by a 0.1-point margin on her 20th shot.

On her 21st shot, she pierced the absolute center of the target with a 10.9, drawing gasps of admiration.

Having seized control, Ban wrapped up her final two shots with a 10.6 and a 10.4 for a total of 253.1 points. Completing a 0.9-point come-from-behind victory, she flashed a light smile 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 Championship victory last year, Ban has now secured her second World Championship gold medal before even turning 20.

[Ban Hyo-jin / National Shooting Team: "The first series didn't go well, which put a bit of pressure on me. But I tried to keep my mind at ease, thinking, 'Instead of aiming for the gold, let's just try to finish in the top three.'"]

Standing proudly at the summit of this tournament—where three tickets to the LA Olympics are up for grabs in each event—she also gifted South Korean shooting its first quota place for LA.

[Ban Hyo-jin / National Shooting Team: "Since (this tournament) was the first international competition offering Olympic quotas, I thought, 'Let's secure one right from the first event,' and I really wanted to win (a medal)."]

Ban also created a heartwarming moment by placing her medal around the neck of her junior, Choi Ye-in, who had lost the opportunity to compete due to an omission in the Korea Shooting Federation's entry registration.

(Reported by Kim Hyeong-yeol | Video by Lee Hong-myeong | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.