Olympic shooting champion cries after missing Asian Games final for forgetting to pull trigger

The 23-year-old entered the tournament as a top gold-medal hope, holding the Olympic crown and the world number two ranking behind India's Esha Singh.

The 25m pistol qualification round consists of a precision stage and a rapid-fire stage, with the top eight overall athletes advancing to the final. During the precision stage on Sunday, Yang performed at an elite level, leading the field with 292 points to edge out competitors from Iran, Vietnam and North Korea.

However, disaster struck during the rapid-fire stage, which limits athletes to three seconds per shot. Remaining among the leaders after 20 shots, Yang forgot to pull the trigger within the time limit on her 21st attempt, resulting in an automatic miss and a score of zero.

South Korean Olympic shooting champion Yang Ji-in. Photo by Instagram/@jiinheaven

Despite completing her final nine shots, Yang did not earn enough points to turn it around. She finished the qualification round in 17th place with a total score of 575 points, missing the final by a margin of six points.

The unfired shot also impacted the team standings, which combine the scores of three athletes from each nation. The South Korean trio of Yang, Oh Ye-jin and Bong Seo-rin secured the silver medal with a combined score of 1,735, falling eight points behind the China squad.

Yang burst into tears immediately after completing her round and was comforted by her teammates, who also could not hold back their tears. Passing through the interview zone, a distraught Yang apologized to her squad for the costly mistake.

The error received extensiv domestic media coverage, with JoongAng Daily highlighting how a single mistake cost the team a gold medal.

"One mistake led to a painful outcome," Korea Mail Business wrote.

In the individual final on Monday, South Korea's Bong Seo-rin was the first athlete eliminated. China's Xiao Jiaruixuan ultimately claimed the gold medal with 38 points after defeating India's Singh in a shoot-off. North Korea's Kim Hyon-suk took the bronze, while Vietnam's Trinh Thu Vinh finished fourth.

China currently dominates the shooting medal table at the Asian Games with 16 golds, five silvers and two bronzes, followed by Qatar and India.

South Korea sits fourth overall, securing their lone gold medal by Choo Ga-eun in the women's individual 10m air pistol event.