Lima 2023: Perfect birthday gift for Cuiping Zhang

A gold medal for China’s Paralympic legend Cuiping Zhang was the “best gift” she could receive on her birthday at the Lima 2023 World Shooting Para Sport Championships on Saturday (23 September).

The 36-year-old’s victory with her compatriot Bo Ren in the R10 – mixed team 10m air rifle standing SH1 against a formidable South Korean pair - Yunri Lee and Jinho Park, who won a world title just 24 hours earlier - was a highlight of the second day at the Las Palmas Air Base.

“I am very happy, it is the best [birthday] gift that I could have got, a gold medal in Lima, which is very far from my hometown [in China],” said Zhang, who is a five-time Paralympic champion.

“This gold medal is also a gift for myself and for all the effort that I have put in.”

It was Zhang’s first appearance at a World Championships since she topped the podium at the Sydney edition in 2019. 

“I was a little bit nervous today,” she admitted. “But I am going to try and get the best results that I can for the rest of the competition.” She will be competing in four rifle events in Lima.

The tense R10 final was a battle worthy of a world title match with nothing between the two teams for the first few rounds. 

The Chinese pair had come out fighting scoring a combined total of 21 to South Korea’s 20.8 to win the first two points of 16. But the South Koreans came straight back to claim the second series 20.7 to 19.6. 

The match was delicately poised until the eighth series when the Chinese pair began to pull away. The South Korean’s fought back in the 12th series, when Park scored a 10.7 and Lee a 10.5 for a total of 21.2 to China’s 21.1. But after an outstanding final series, their opponents closed out the match 16-10.

China also took home the bronze in the R10 match. Yixin Zhong, who won gold on the opening day in the R2 – women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 and Jianjie Xu overcame a strong challenge for third place from Slovakia’s Paralympic legend Veronika Vadovicova and her teammate Radoslav Malenovsky, a gold medallist at Osijek 2023 WSPS World Cup. They won 16-10.

“We are feeling very pleased to have won two medals in this event,” said Zhang.

Second gold to Korea

In the second final of the day, the P6 – mixed team 10m air pistol SH1, South Korea came out on top.

The powerhouse duo of world champion Jeongdu Jo and Aeekyung Moon dominated from the opening shot in the match against Azerbaijan pair Aybaniz Babayeva and Kamran Zeynalov.

Moon, 55, who won bronze in last year’s edition in Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, set the bar high from the opening shot with a perfect score of 10.9. The combined total, with Jo’s 10.3, of 21.2 beat Azerbaijan’s 18.5 to win the first two points of 16.

After Azerbaijan called time out in the 5th series, Babayeva and Zeynalov came back with a 19.3 score to 18.2 to claim the round.

But they could not keep up the momentum and the South Korean pair forged ahead to win 16-2. It was Jo’s second medal in Lima – he won silver in the team P3 – mixed 25m pistol SH1 on the opening day. 

“I am very happy to win today and to have two medals,” said Jo. “I just focused on each shot in the match today. I have been working hard in training ahead of the competition, so I am pleased to have won.”

The win also helped South Korea to overtake France and China on the leaderboard with six medals, including two gold.

The bronze medal went to India’s Paralympic champion Manish Narwal and Nisha Kanwer, an Osijek 2019 WSPS World Cup champion, who overcame a challenge from Turkey’s reigning European Para champion Aysegul Pehlivanlar and Cevat Karagol, a silver medallist in last year’s edition in Al Ain. 

The Indian pair pulled away from the start leading 8-0 before Turkey scored. They closed the match 16-6. 

The Lima 2023 World Championships, which runs until Thursday (28 September), is being streamed live on the World Shooting Para Sport website and Facebook page. Live results will be available here.

You can follow all the action and go behind the scenes on the World Para Shooting Sport social media channels on Instagram and Twitter.