Bubnovich, who only squeezed into the final in sixth place, way behind qualification leader Hrachik Babayan of Armenia, belatedly found his form with a succession of precise shots to claw his way up the leaderboard.

But heading into the finale, he was still a formidable 1.1 points behind London 2012 gold and silver medallist Campriani, who only had to avoid disaster to claim gold.

Yet with the crowd beginning a prolonged handclap before the rifles were fired, disaster was what happened as Campriani fired only a 9.1 on the computerised system in comparison with 10.4 for Bubnovich.

"The last shot, I had to pull the trigger faster. I went down on the target, I hesitated, and I lost the good time to release," the eventual runner-up said afterwords.

"That's a lesson for the future."

While qualification leader Babayan of Armenia faded to fifth, the final place on the podium was taken by Sergey Richter of Israel, to take a first medal of the Games for his country and also claim a quota place for next year's Olympic Games.

Drama was just as intense in the women's 10m air rifle final which followed the male affair, as world number two Andrea Arsovic recovered from a midmatch wobble to overhaul Swiss teenager Sarah Hornung with the very last shot.

The Serbian, who had led in the early stages of the competition, also appeared unnerved by the hand-clapping as well as the pressure of the situatio, to drop to below 10 in the first two of her final four shots to allow Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games champion Hornung to claw back a two-point deficit.

Yet with the final shot she managed 10.5 in comparison with Horning's 10.4 to snatch gold, while Barbara Engleder of Germany took bronze.

"I must say thank you to my team, particularly my coach, because my preparation for this competition was very strong," said the last-gasp winner.

"It is a first gold medal for Serbia and I'm very happy about that.

"I want to always be the number one and do everything I can for the gold medal."

At a venue considered among the very best in the world, attention then switched outdoors to the trap competition as competition concluded with head-to-head matches in which each competitor attempted to successfully shoot 15 moving targets at a lightening quick pace.

After finishing locked together after the semi-final, the gold medal match pitted together Spain's Fatima Galvez and Adrianna Perilli, perhaps the greatest ever Olympian from San Marino who was supported throughout by a fanatical travelling following.

Perilli, who narrowly missed out on winning San Marino's first ever Olympic medal at London 2012, shot brilliantly throughout, but after building up an early lead after her opponent missed two shots, Galvez was that little bit too strong in the final, ending up 13-11 winner. 

The final place on the podium was claimed by 45-year-old Russian veteran Elena Tkach - who won a silver medal competing for the Soviet Union at the 1991 World Championships in Perth - after she overcame her compatriot Tatiana Barsuk 14-11 in the battle for bronze.

Action will continue in shooting tomorrow, with medals to be won in the men's trap and men's and women's 10m air pistol events.

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