Sidi enjoyed a storming finish, firing 10.4 in the last round of shooting to win the men's 10m air rifle gold, while Kousnetsova repeated the feat by taking the women's 10 air pistol honour, the same category she won here in 2004.

The Hungarian, who settled for the bronze in Sydney last week, won the battle of nerves to add a fifth title to his collection. Leading the eight finalists with 597 points from the preliminary, Sidi trailed arch-rival Jozef Gonci of the Slovak Republic 689.4-688.6 after nine shots, and the latter appeared to be on course for victory.

But Gonci failed to maintain his concentration at the crucial stage, firing the lowest final-round 8.8, while Sidi shot 10.4 to surge ahead with a final score of 102 and a total 699. Sixth-tenths behind was Romanian George Moldoveanu, who totalled 698.4. Gonci came third with 682.2.

With local ace Tavarit Majchacheep opting to have a rest day due to exhaustion from last week's meet in Sydney, the Thai men's challengers put up nothing like an impressive show, with Thanapat Thananchai the best placed - 56th out of 86 competitors.

Kousnetsova, who won an Olympics gold for Russia in Atlanta 11 years ago, fired a total of 488.8, leaving Poland's Miro Sagun Lewandowska second with 486.7. Third place went to Sonia Franquet of Spain, with 486.3.

Thai hope Wanwarin Yusawat stormed to the final one point behind Kousnetsova at 388 to 389, but she shot below nine points twice and finished a disappointing fifth with a total of 483.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation