Chen Ying of China gestures during the women's 25m pistol final of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games shooting event at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall in Beijing, China, Aug. 13, 2008. Chen Ying won the gold medal of the event.(Xinhua Photo/Bao Feifei) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shooter Chen Ying won the Olympic gold medal of women's 25-meter pistol at the Beijing Shooting Range on Wednesday.

    Her total score of 793.4 points set the new Olympic record after rules were changed in the event, which increased the number of shots in the final from 10 to 20.

    Despite gun failure, Mongolian Gundegmaa Otryad seized the silver with 792.2 points, followed by Munkhbayar Dorjsuren of Germany who got the bronze with 789.2 points.

    Chen, 31, was ranked third among eight finalists with 585 points from the qualification round, two points behind Dorjsuren and five less than Otryad who equaled Olympic record with 590 points.

    But the Beijing native managed to impress the audience with her unmatchable sharpness in the final, chalking up the highest scores in the first and second five-shot series -- 52.5 and 53.1 points.

    After the two series, she surged to the second, with 1.6 points less than the 30-year-old Mongolian, gold medalist in the 2006 World Cup Final.

    Something dramatic happened in the third series.

    Chen, with two gold medals achieved from World Cup Final and one from World Championships since 2005, kept her momentum and notched up another 52.5.

    But when Otryad finished her performance, the tally just showed score of the first shot, a 9.0.

    Watched by bewildered spectators, she was asked to make the rest four fires again. She finished with a 49.0. This meant Chen was 1.9 points ahead.

    In the last series, although the pony-tailed Chinese girl finished with a decent 50.3, which was 0.7 points less than that of the Mongolian, her previous advantage was too big to be surpassed.

    "She shot stunningly well. She was excellent," said Chinese shooting head coach Wang Yifu.

    Talking about Chen's qualification score, Wang admitted that its was indeed a little bit low. "But she adjusted herself quickly. I am confident that she would have a good performance because she is always good in the final," he added.

    Chen said she had similar experience before of being lagged behind after the qualification. "So I fired every shot calmly and then I overtook," she said.

    The champion attributed her victory partially to cooperation of the audiences.

    "When I fired, they were really quiet and when I shot a high score, they gave me warm cheers that encouraged me to shoot well," She bowed to spectators after the competition.

    "This is one of my most enjoyable competition," she said.

    Otryad was apparently a little disappointed at the result.

    "Anyway, this is my fourth Olympics and I am proud with the medal," she said.

    Dorjsuren, 39, collected a same final round score as Otryad, 202.2, and was placed third overall.

    "It was a medal after 16 years of training," said the Barcelona bronze medalist who was born in Mongolia, "It was my dream. It was a big dream fulfilled."

    Another Chinese shooter Fei Fengji who had been ranked seventh with 582 points in the qualification, made a hot pursuit in the final and finished fourth.

    Double Olympic gold medalist Maria Grozdeva from Bulgaria finished the fifth.

    "I lost concentration during the precision shooting," she said.

    Qualification round consists of precision part and rapid firing part. With a 583-point qualification score, her precision score was the lowest among all finalists.

    As for the final, she said, "I made one or two mistakes early on. That was my big problem."