BUENOS AIRES - Hu Kai kicked off the Chinese shooting team's 2025 season with a flying start, claiming gold in the men's 10m air pistol final at the ISSF World Cup opener on Thursday.

Hu, who turned 23 on Thursday, qualified third with 587-23x before dominating the final with 244.7 points, edging Russian Anton Aristarkhov (243.3) and Switzerland's Jason Solari (223.0), who took bronze after a shoot-off against Germany's Christian Reitz.

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The young shooter showcased consistency, building his lead through elimination rounds before sealing victory with a composed final series to secure his first World Cup title. He called the gold "a perfect gift".

"It gives me confidence and motivation to work even harder in the future," he said.

Kazakhstan's Valeriy Rakhimzhan topped qualification with 587-24x, followed by China's Olympic champion Xie Yu (587-24x) and Hu. However, Xie, competing as a Ranking Points Only (RPO) athlete, did not advance to the final.

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Hu's victory capped a strong showing in national trials, where he led overall rankings to edge Xie into second place - resulting in Xie's RPO status in Buenos Aires.

Competition resumes Friday with men's and women's 50m rifle 3 positions finals.