BEIJING, Aug 7: China’s hopes of dominating the Olympic shooting on home soil will be put to the test on Saturday amid fierce rivalry for the opening day’s two gold medals.

Reigning champion Du Li is backed by her country’s millions to retain the women’s 10m Air Rifle title she won at Athens and provide China with the first gold medal of their own Games.

Later in the afternoon, world champion Peng Wei is a strong contender to take the men’s 10m Air Pistol gold and give the hosts the start they need to win a majority of the 15 shooting titles at stake.

Legendary Chinese shooter Wang Yifu, now the national coach, refuses to take both wins for granted, saying this sport is the hardest to predict. “No one can be the favourite because it all depends on how well you shoot that day. It takes just one shot to mess up things.”

Li, a 26-year-old student from Shandong province, knows that feeling. She won her Athens gold by a single shot ahead of Russia’s Lioubov Galkina, who is back to take revenge.

Li, the reigning Olympic and world champion, has struggled in recent months raising the prospect of a keen fight for gold at the Beijing Shooting Hall.

Her world record of 504.9 points was equalled in April by Czech Katerina Emmons before Germany’s Sonja Pfeilschifter bettered it by 0.1 at the Milan World Cup in June.

If Li wins the first gold of these Games, it will add another chapter to her country’s emotional bond with the sport.

China’s first ever Olympic gold medal came in shooting through pistol king Xu Haifeng at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Meanwhile, Peng could not have asked for a better mentor than Wang as he prepares for the 10m Air Pistol event.

Wang is China’s most experienced Olympian in any sport with six successive appearances between 1984 and 2004, winning golds, three silvers and one bronze over the years.

His last gold was in the 10m Air Pistol, the event Peng now hopes to claim against two fancied Russians, Vladimir Gontcharov and Athens bronze-medallist Vladimir Isakov.

Gontcharov, who finished ninth in Sydney and did not take part in Athens.—AFP