(2nd LD) (Asiad) S. Korea's Lee Gun-hyeok wins gold in men's rapid fire pistol shooting

NAGOYA, Japan, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korean shooter Lee Gun-hyeok claimed gold in the men's individual rapid fire pistol shooting event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday. This marked the first time a Korean has earned double gold medals in the same sport. Lee overtook China's Su Lianbofan in a shoot-off during the final at Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Toyota, around 25 kilometers east of the main host city, Nagoya.

Lee's second gold came after winning the team event earlier in the day, breaking a 12-year drought for South Korea in this specific rapid fire event. With eight series of five shots each, the competition used a four-second limit per series. Hits within the 9.7 scoring zone were worth one point, while misses received zero points.

Lee led through three series with 13 points and maintained the lead after the fourth series, when Su was eliminated as the sixth-place shooter. Lee scored five points in the fifth series, extending his lead to two points at 25-23 after the sixth series. The lead narrowed to one at 28-27 after the seventh series, but Su managed to catch up in the eighth series, resulting in a tie at 32 points.

In the initial shoot-off, both shooters scored four points, setting up another shoot-off, which Lee won with five points compared to Su's two. Lee expressed his love for his wife and their young child, mentioning that his wife had jokingly threatened to change their door lock code if he didn't win a gold. He also mentioned being under pressure during the Asian Games national trials, aiming to surpass his unofficial world record score of 594 points.

Lee's achievement brought South Korea's total medals in shooting to three gold, five silver, and four bronze.