Chinese duo reach women's 10m air rifle final

LONDON - Both Chinese shooters Yi Siling and Yu Dan reached the final of women's 10m air rifle final Saturday with Yi shared the qualification lead with Poland's Sylwia Bogacka in 399 points.

Yi, 23, world No. 1 in the event, shot her only nine point in the 28th shot and poised to challenge the first gold of London Olympics.

Yu, 24, ranked No. 42, whose major success is winning gold at the 2009 Asian championships in Doha, scored 398 points and finished fourth in the qualification.

"Both of Chinese shooters reached the final, which will be helpful for Chinese team to win medals," Sun Shengwei, the Chinese shotgun team coach said after the qualification.

"It's kind of guarantee for Chinese team to reach the top of podium. Everybody is nervous in the Olympics, but the winner will be the one with strongest nerve."

Russia's Daria Vdovina came in third with 398 points. Defending champion Katerina Emmons had 397 points and needed a five-for-four shoot-off to advance into the final.

Yi stood on the medal podium at all three World Cup events this year including a gold medal performance in Munich. She won the title of this event at the 2010 world championships in Munich.