On the Olympic shooting ranges, first day of the sports gala saw aura of some big names eclipsed by rising stars.

In men's 10-meter air pistol event, Chinese Olympic debutant Pang Wei won the gold medal with 688.2 points, edging Athens Olympic medallists South Korean shooter Jin Jong Oh and Kim Jong Su from DPR Korea.

Marching into the final with a leading 586 points, the 22-year-old from north China's Hebei Province wore his uniform used at the medal awarding ceremony during the competition. He had a two-point lead from the co-second finalists, Jin Jong Oh from South Korea and Kim Jong Su from DPR. Korea.

Despite a not-so-good start of a 9.3 points, Pang impressed people with his steady performance and scored the following eight shots all above 10, including two 10.7 that aroused cheers from spectators.

After the ninth shot, he has already spanned his distance from the second-placer Jin, silver medallist at the Athens Olympics in 50m pistol, to 4.2 points.

Although he got another 9.3 as the last shot, his position seemed unshakable.

Talking about his success, he said, "I had been preparing for four years. Thinking about the preparation, I wouldn't be afraid of competitions, which should be holidays for athletes."

He permitted himself to lapse, just as the two 9.3 points, but he said aim of the permission was for future improvement.

When he suddenly became media focus, his teammate, world champions Tan Zongliang and Mikhail Nestruev disappeared from final.

The duo finished as 11th and 29th in the qualification round, and were hence shut out of the final.

Also meeting Waterloo was German left-handed shooter, double world record holder Sonja Pfeilschifter.

The talented markswoman, with a bagful of gold medals, never had good result in the Olympics, which she has taken part in for three times.

"Olympic doesn't like me," she once joked.

This time she chalked in 396 points in the qualification round of 10-meter air rifle, narrowly missing the ticket to the final.

Sharing her fate was Chinese shooter Zhao Yinghui. The three-time Olympian had always been hailed as title hopeful but received no medal either.

With 389 points in the qualification round, she has her dream shattered again.

Zhao's teammate, defending champion Du Li also failed to get any medal due to great pressure playing at home. She finished the qualification round with 399 points but did keep her momentum to the end, plunging to the fifth.

Gold medal of the event was snatched by Czech markswoman Katerina Emmons who improved Du's Olympic record to 503.5 points.

However, the Croatian girl who won the bronze was also shining to spectators.

A 26-year-old and also debutant to the Olympic arena, the bespectacled girl who got bronze in 50m rifle three positions at the Munich World Cup earlier this year notched up 500.9 points.

"I was so excited," she said with tears in her eyes, "It (getting a medal) was like a dream, finally realized today."

Source:Xinhua