With only one shot below 10 (a 9.9), Zhu maintained his consistent shooting in the final round. An excellent sixth shot (10.9) and seventh shot (10.8) helped him into second place before he clinched the gold with a 10.4.

"I am not now in my best form because I just recovered from appendicitis surgery in early March," said a relaxed and confident Zhu.

"This match was difficult, but at the coming Games it will be different."

Another Athens Olympic champion, Du Li, the world record holder in women's 10m rifle, who took a bronze in the women's 10m air rifle on Saturday, believes the pressure helps her perform better. Her optimism will come in handy in August as the women's 10m air rifle will probably produce the first gold medal in Beijing. Du is expected to take a medal again, just as she did four years ago in Athens.

"I am enjoying the pressure of winning the first gold in Beijing a lot," she said. "I consider it a unique experience because only a few Chinese athletes have the opportunity to take the first gold for our country."

She said her bronze-medal finish was no big deal.

"I did not shoot badly, but others did really well. This tournament was just a test for me to find out how to compete in my home venue. I think I did quite well in this respect and I can manage the situation at the Olympics."

In order to get used to the home crowd, Du did not wear earplugs during the tournament, to feel how difficult playing at home can be.

"When we compete in a foreign country, the spectators cannot disturb us much because we can't understand their language," she said.

"But at the Beijing Games there will be very loud cheers from our Chinese supporters and I can understand every word they say, so I need to get prepared for a very noisy and disturbing atmosphere."

For other Chinese medal hopefuls, the experience at the Olympic test event could be a good lesson about the pressures of playing at home.

"I was too anxious to win," Ren admitted. "I lost my control on the last shot."