The world's best markswomen including Olympic champions Du Li and Yi Siling took to the Olympic shooting center on Friday as the pre-event training got underway.

The women's 10m air rifle is to produce the first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympics early on Day 1 of competition.

The Chinese duo of Du and Yi, who won gold respectively at the 2004 and 2012 Olympics, are considered favorites to claim the highly-coveted honor.

But China's head coach Wang Yifu insisted that the results will remain unpredictable until the last shot.

"Many athletes, including Yi and Du, are on the same level," said Wang, a retired marksman who had competed in six Olympics Games.

"Under the new rules, all the competitors will start from zero entering the final, which leaves the contention wide open," he added.

Both Yi and Du did a good job in Friday's training session. "Both of them are in good condition," said Wang.