Four years ago, people got to know the cheerful Chinese sharp shooter by his beaming smile.

Four years later, they were touched by his tears.

"I didn't know what was going on, my mind went blank," chocked the 24-year-old young man, defending Olympic champion of men's 10-meter air rifle who succumbed to Indian Abhinav Bindra in Beijing on Monday and got a silver with a 0.8-point gap.

Zhu Qinan of China waves to spectators on podium during awarding ceremony of men's 10m air rifle final of Beijing Olympic Games at Beijing Shooting Range Hall in Beijing, China, Aug. 11, 2008. Zhu took the silver medal of the event with 699.7 points. [Jiao Weiping/Xinhua]

Heartbreaking moment

Coming from the eastern Zhejiang Province, Zhu holds the Olympic record in the discipline.

He did well at the beginning of the qualification round, finishing the first four of the six series with 100 points and losing only one point in the fifth series. However, when it was just about ten minutes left, the slow shooter still had seven shots to make.

In the seven shots, he lapsed twice with two 9 points.

However, his score, 597 points, still ensured him a second place among finalists, after Finlander Henri Hakkinen who got 598.

In the final, Hakkinen did just a decent job. Zhu was better. But Bindra was super.

Ranked third with 596 points, the 2006 World Championships champion pulled up his slacks from the beginning of the final, impressing spectators with a 10.7 in the first shot.

Zhu, however, didn't seem to be in good shape, firing a 9.9 at the third shot and hence plunged to the third.

Zhu seemed to retain his sharpness at the sixth shot with a 10.7, and the 10.6 in the eighth shot giving Chinese spectators a glim of hope.

But it was too late.

After the ninth shot, he still had a 0.5-point gap behind his Indian rival, who surged to the top after the seventh shot.

In the breathtaking last shot, Bindra made a quick fire of 10.8 point.

The gold fell upon him before the competition finished. Hope of Zhu died out.

Staring at the big screen with his score, 699.7 points, the normally smiling man struggled to hold back his tears.

When he mounted the podium for silver medal, tears finally fell off.

"I didn't know what was going on, my mind went bland," he chocked, "I couldn't get focused during the final as I did in the qualification."

Pressure had been tremendous for the young man, who carved out at his Olympic debut as an unexpected winner.

"This time was much harder than Athens. My craving for the gold was much more than last time."

"I had been troubled by anxiety and bewilderment," he continued. "I was the defending champion. I fought hard with myself to get rid of the thoughts...but it was really hard."