Rookie beats veteran to take 10m air pistol gold　

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A shooting star loses at the 11th China National Games. Experts thought the veteran Tan Zongliang would win the 10m air pistol competition on Tuesday. But his rivals had other plans for the gold medal final.

Veteran Tan Zongliang didn't perform well in Tuesday morning's preliminaries and went into the final ranked 4th with 584 points. He got off to a good start in the final and scored 10.8 points on the third try. Tan ranked first after the sixth. But the last shot yielded only 9.1 points and that cost Tan the advantage. The veteran favorite dropped to second place, and the title went to 22-year-old rookie Mai Jiajie from Shanghai. Mai scored 687.9 points to claim the gold medal.

Mai Jiajie, from Shanghai team, said, "My opponents may perform better than me and I can't control that. But I can control myself and make it step by step."

Mai Jiajie from Shanghai jubilates during the awarding  ceremony for the men's 10m air pistol shooting final  at the 11th Chinese National Games in Jinan, capital  of east China's Shandong Province, on Oct. 20, 2009.  Mai claimed the title of the event with 687.9 rings.  (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

Tan Zongliang, from Shangdong team, said, "I tried my best. I'm OK with the silver."

Meanwhile, Olympic champion Chen Ying of the Beijing team shot on-target in the women's 25 meter pistol final. Her comeback against Fei Fengji of Shanghai didn't just win the gold, but it was also a nice birthday gift for her five-month-old daughter.