Taiwan wins 1 silver, 1 bronze at junior shooting world cup

Taipei, April 25 (CNA) Taiwan has won a silver medal in the mixed 10-meter air rifle event and a bronze medal in the women's 10-meter air pistol at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Cairo.

Chen You-an (陳宥安) and Tsai Chieh-ying (蔡婕穎), both 17, won silver on Friday with a score of 498.3, finishing behind India's Shambhavi Kshirsagar and Divyanshu Dewangan.

At one point in the four-team finals, the Taiwanese duo was in fourth place, outside of the medals.

But they worked their way back into third at the first elimination point and then pulled ahead of a French duo to secure a spot in the last round of the finals, when only two teams were left.

Speaking to CNA, Chen said he was nervous about missing out on a medal, given the high level of competition at the Junior World Cup, but held on by trusting in himself.

"I am really happy to win my first World Cup medal and prove my ability on the world stage," said Chen, a student at Nankan Senior High School in Taoyuan.

Tsai, who stepped in as a late replacement for an older teammate, said she felt nervous throughout the finals and tried to steady herself with deep breathing.

"I was especially nervous when I had a chance to win [a medal]. I'm very happy I was able to stand on the podium," said Tsai, a student at Guang Fu High School in New Taipei.

On Thursday, 16-year-old Liao Ke-rong (廖可容) won bronze in the women's 10-meter air pistol final with a score of 218.3.

The medal was Liao's first at a world-level competition. She won the women's junior 10-meter air pistol title last year -- her first international gold medal.

Liao was actually in gold medal position after two rounds of the eight-round elimination finals, but struggled a little in the third and fourth rounds and did well to keep her nerve and make it into the final three.

Liao said her goal is to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Ma Yu-mei (馬瑜梅), a two-time Asian Games athlete, and represent Taiwan at the Asian Games.