Beijing: Rising star Pang Wei added his name to the rich heritage of Chinese pistol shooters by cruising to the Olympic 10m title on Saturday.
Pang, 22, the reigning world champion, finished four points ahead of silver-medallist Jin Jong-Oh of South Korea at the Beijing Shooting Hall here.
North Korea's Kim Jong-Su claimed the bronze medal, while American Jason Turner finished fourth after a shoot-out with compatriot Brian Beaman when both finished with identical scores.
Pang led from start to finish, scoring 586 points in the qualification rounds before shooting 102.2 in the eight-man final watched by some 5,000 cheering Chinese fans.
Pang's victory made amends for the embarrassing loss by compatriot Du Li earlier in the day.
Li, the defending champion in the women's 10m Air Rifle, finished a poor fifth as Czech rival Katerina Emmons stole the thunder by winning the first gold medal of these Games.
Pang, who won the world championships in Croatia in 2006, was the undisputed master of the show in the absence of two fancied Russians, Vladimir Gontcharov and Athens bronze-medallist Vladimir Isakov.
Isakov is competing in only the 50m Pistol event this time, while Gontcharovo did not make the trip to Beijing for unspecified reasons.
Pang's victory was mastermined by legendary Chinese coach Wang Yifu, who won the same event in Athens four years ago before retiring to fulfil his dream of coaching the young home squad at the Olympics.
Pang could not have asked for a better mentor than Wang, who remains China's most experienced Olympian in any sport with six successive appearances between 1984 and 2004.
Wang won two Olympic golds, three silvers and one bronze over the 20 years he competed.
Another Chinese pistol great Xu Haifeng had won his country's first ever Olympic gold medal when he bagged the 50m event at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
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