Aichi-Nagoya:Pistol shooter Choo Ga-eun became South Korea's first gold medalist at this year's Asian Games by winning the women's 10-meter air pistol event with an Asian record score of 246.3 points.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Choo's performance marked a significant achievement as she surpassed Shen Yiyao of China by five points. Despite an unexpected low score of 9.8 on her final shot, Choo maintained a comfortable lead throughout the competition.

Choo expressed her disbelief at setting a new record, describing the experience as surreal. "I thought it was a dream," she said. Her calm demeanor during the event helped her achieve the remarkable score, making her victory seem effortless.

Before her individual success, Choo contributed to South Korea's silver medal in the team competition, setting an Asian Games qualification record of 582 points. However, the overall performance of the South Korean shooting team fell short of expectations, as they had only secured one silver and two bronze medals before Choo's win.

Head coach Chang Kap-seok, who had initially predicted five gold medals, acknowledged the team's struggles and expressed gratitude to Choo for her outstanding performance. "It has been a tough going for us," he stated emotionally.

Choo is set to compete for another medal in the mixed 10m air pistol mixed team event on Friday.