Evgeniya Pavlova of Russia won the women's sprint event in Minsk ©Getty Images

Russia's Evgeniya Pavlova beat World Championships relay bronze medallist Olena Pidhrushna of Ukraine to clinch the women's sprint title at the International Biathlon Union Open European Championships in Minsk.

Pavlova clocked a time of 16min 31.8sec in a race held in the super sprint format owing to a lack of snow.

The Russian shot clean on her way to crossing the line 2.8sec in front of Pidhrushna, a member of the Ukrainian team which claimed relay bronze at the World Championships in Antholz-Anterselva.

Chloe Chevalier of France, a former European individual champion, did enough for bronze having completed the course 5.5 seconds slower than the victorious Russian.

Belarusian Sergey Bocharnikov claimed the host nation's first gold by winning the men's event ©Getty Images
Belarusian Sergey Bocharnikov claimed the host nation's first gold by winning the men's event ©Getty Images

In the men's event, also staged in the super sprint format, Sergey Bocharnikov delivered the first gold medal for hosts Belarus in a time of 14:12.8.

The Belarusian ended the race just 0.4 ahead of the Czech Republic's Adam Vaclavik, who was forced to settle for silver.

Former world pursuit champion Dmytro Pidruchnyi of Ukraine took bronze, 0.1 behind Vaclavik in a tense finish to the race.

The Championships were due to take place in Otepää but were relocated to Minsk because of a lack of snow at the Estonian venue.

Organisers have been forced into several modifications to the course for the event as a result of poor snow coverage in Minsk.