Hangzhou, China, July 22, 2026: China's reigning world champions Yao Qianxun and Hu Kai broke world records in both qualification and final to win the 10m air pistol mixed team event as the ISSF World Cup started in Hangzhou on Wednesday, July 22, Xinhua News reports.
Having set a new qualification mark of 591 points earlier on Wednesday, the duo scored 488.4 points in the final, surpassing the previous world record of 487.7 set by India's Palak Palak and Mukesh Nelavalli in April.
"We didn't expect it at all. Actually, we didn't notice our results throughout the match," Yao said, crediting their victory to Hu. "We had a good performance today, especially my partner."
Their compatriots Shen Yiyao and Bu Shuaihang, who will represent China in the mixed team event at the upcoming 20th Asian Games, added a silver with 485.7 points in what was the tournament's first medal event.
"We are glad to win a silver and I feel we are getting better and better as a pair," said Shen.
Yao and Hu had won one gold and one silver at the two World Cup legs held earlier this year under a revised format that allows four teams, rather than two, to advance to the final.