Zhang Mengxue got China off the gold medal mark and gave her mum the perfect birthday present at the Rio Games on Sunday, the Olympic debutant winning the women's 10m air pistol title

After an assured display of precision shooting at the Deodoro range, the 25-year-old beamed: "It happened to be my mother's birthday yesterday [Saturday] so this will be the best gift for her."

The woman from Iinan produced a perfect 10.9 on her 17 th shot to hold off Russia's Vitalina Batsarashkina.

"I am so excited," said Zhang, who only made her international debut last year.

"I am still feeling the competition, I am still in that mood, and winning at the Olympic Games was my goal since I was young. Now I have the medal. "

Saving her best till last after scraping into the eightshooter final in seventh place she reported: "I was pretty calm for the final actually, because the qualification was a bit tough for me. ”