Chinese shooter Liu Tianyou competes during the men's 10m air rifle event at the 15th Asian Games in Doha, capital of Qatar, today. China won the first gold medal of the Asiad after taking the team title of the men's 10m air rifle with a score of 1786 points. -Xinhua

China claimed the first gold medal of the Asian Games with victory in the men's 10m air rifle team event.

The Chinese team, composed of Zhu Qinan, Li Jie and Liu Tianyou, scored a total of 1,786 points in the competition.

South Korea grabbed the silver medal with 1,777 points, just one point ahead of third-placed India.

"The marathon is over now. Pressure is always there," said WangYifu, coach of the Chinese shooting team.

Zhu Qinan, the Athens Olympic gold medalist in the men's air rifle, and Li Jie, the silver winner after Zhu in Athens, didn't find the form that carried them to Athens glory as both finished the 60-shot competition with 594 points, a joint fourth place among the 42 competitors.

The little-known Liu Tianyou turned out to be the hero of the defending Asian Games champions as the 24-year-old scored the highest 598 points.