Olympic bronze marksman Lee Meng-yuan tops world rankings for 1st time

Taipei, Sept. 23 (CNA) Olympic bronze medalist Lee Meng-yuan (李孟遠) has become the first Taiwanese athlete to top the International Shooting Sport Federation's men's skeet shooting world rankings.

Lee's 6,610 points put him ahead of his fellow medalists from this summer's Olympics in Paris, Americans Vincent Hancock and Conner Prince.

Lee told CNA on Monday that he was surprised by the result, though he had expected his ranking to rise after the Games, which was also the first time a Taiwanese athlete had competed in the men's skeet.

Despite topping the rankings, Lee said he believed Hancock, who won gold in Paris, was likely still the stronger athlete. "I'm No. 1 probably because I participated in more international tournaments this year and finished with good results," he said.

Lee finished first at the 2024 Asian Championships in Kuwait in January and fifth at the World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May.

Born to Hsieh Chih-pei (謝志培), an international-level sharpshooter, Lee first represented Taiwan aged 15 at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

He is next set to compete at the Taipei International Grand Prix which is being held at the National Shooting Training Base Gongxi Shooting Range from Sept. 21-30.

The event -- the first-ever top-tier ISSF Grand Prix tournament held in Taiwan -- sees 140 athletes from 10 countries compete for multiple titles.

All eight Taiwanese Olympians from Paris are in competition at the tournament, including Wu Chia-ying (吳佳穎), who won gold in the women's 10-meter air pistol event on Monday.