Asian Games 2026: China Miss Women’s 10m Air Rifle Medal for Only Second Time in History

China experienced a rare setback in the women’s 10m air rifle individual event at the Asian Games 2026, with none of its shooters making the podium in Aichi-Nagoya.

It is only the second time in Asian Games history that China has failed to win an individual medal in the women’s 10m air rifle. The previous occasion came at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, the first edition to feature the event. The result is particularly notable because China had entered the competition with two highly accomplished shooters in the eight-woman final. However, Wang Zifei and Han Jiayu were eliminated before the medal positions, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively.

China qualified two athletes for the individual final: Wang Zifei, the 2025 World Championship individual silver medallist, and former individual world champion Han Jiayu. Han was the first of the two Chinese shooters to exit. She finished seventh after being eliminated at the 14th shot with a score of 145.2.

Wang progressed further but could not reach the podium. She finished fifth with 188.2 points, making her China's highest-placed shooter in the individual competition. The medals instead went to Japan, India and South Korea. Japan’s Hinata Taichi won gold with an Asian Games record score of 253.0, while India’s Elavenil Valarivan took silver with 252.4. South Korea’s reigning Olympic champion Ban Hyo-jin won bronze with 230.4.

Forty-year gap between China's medal-less campaigns

China's previous individual medal drought in this event dates back to the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. At those games, South Korea's Park Jeong-ah won gold and Lee Hong-ki took silver, while India's Soma Dutta claimed bronze. China's shooters finished outside the individual podium. China subsequently established one of the most consistent records in the event. From the 1990 Beijing Asian Games through the 2022 Hangzhou Games, Chinese shooters won at least one individual medal at every edition.

That included six individual gold medals, six silver medals and two bronze medals during the ten-edition run. China also produced multiple 1-2 finishes, including at the 1990, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2022 Asian Games. The 2026 result therefore brings an end to that sequence and marks only the second edition in which China has been absent from the individual podium.

The individual result, however, should not be viewed in isolation from China's performance in the team event. Earlier on the same day, China won the women's 10m air rifle team gold while setting a world record. Wang Zifei, Du Yuchen and Han Jiayu combined for 1904.2 points, finishing ahead of India and Japan.

India took team silver with 1898.0 points, while Japan won bronze with 1897.1. The contrast between the two competitions was striking. China demonstrated exceptional consistency across the three-athlete team qualification but could not translate that performance into an individual podium finish later in the final. The individual final uses a progressive elimination format in which qualification scores are reset. 

The finalists therefore begin the medal-deciding stage on equal footing, with successive eliminations placing considerable importance on individual shots and short-term momentum.

The medal results also highlighted the increasingly competitive nature of women's 10m air rifle in Asia. Elavenil Valarivan maintained the lead through the first 20 shots before eventually finishing second to Hinata Taichi. Taichi secured gold on home soil with a record 253.0, while Ban Hyo-jin completed the podium for South Korea. For India, Valarivan's silver added another significant result to the country's recent progress in the event. Ramita Jindal had previously won individual bronze at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

China, meanwhile, will leave Aichi-Nagoya with team gold and a world record, but without an individual medal in the women's 10m air rifle for only the second time since the event entered the Asian Games programme. The previous occurrence was Seoul in 1986. Forty years later, Aichi-Nagoya has produced another unusual chapter in the history of one of China's traditionally strongest shooting disciplines.

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