Paralympic debutant Zhang Cuiping swapped her sewing machine for a rifle only four years ago -- but still ended up winning the most number of medals among China's shooters.

China's Zhang Cuiping acknowledges spectators' applauses after winning the silver in the mixed R6-50m free rifle prone SH1 category event. Sweden's Jonas Jacobsson won the gold. [xinhua]

The 27-year-old from Handan, Hebei province, won two silver and a bronze at the Paralympics, her first major international event.

Zhang took her first Paralympic medal, a bronze, in the women's R8-50m sport rifle 3x20 SH1 on Tuesday.

Two days later, she equaled the world and Paralympic qualification record to lead the qualifying round in the mixed R3-10m air rifle prone SH1, but a poor start cost her the title in a close final which she lost to Briton Matt Skelhon by only 0.5 and had to settle for silver.

Friday's mixed R6-50m free rifle prone SH1 was her last chance to reach the top of the podium.

After finishing third in qualification, the young gun battled hard against Swedish shooting legend Jonas Jacobsson and Australian veteran Ashley Adams in the final.

Zhang fired a brilliant start with a 10.3 and followed it with a perfect 10.9.

But it was difficult to overcome the 2-point deficit from the qualification as the determined Jacobsson delivered an even better performance with only one 9.9 in the final 10 shots.

Zhang shot two 9.9s. Her teammate Dong Chao rocketed from the bottom to third with a superb performance in the final.

"I have no regrets at all (for not winning a gold at the Games). For me, gold, silver or bronze has the same weight," Zhang told The Paralympian Friday.

But Zhang believes she can do much better in the future after learning valuable lessons at the Games.

"It was my first major international tournament and I was very nervous," the 2007 national champion said.

"I encountered many problems here that I never thought of before. Now I know how to adjust my frame of mind and next time I will be much better."

Polio at age three left Zhang in a wheelchair and she dropped out of school after junior high because she did not want her parents to carry her to school every day.

"I was getting heavier and heavier and I could not bear to see them suffer so much for me.

"At that time, I really liked designing and making clothes for myself and other people," Zhang recalled.

She quickly mastered her profession at a local tailor's shop and would run a business herself before a year passed.

In 2003, Hebei's shooting team for people with a disability came to her hometown to scout for new blood and Zhang went along to the selection for fun.

But a coach spotted her obvious shooting talent, perhaps refined by years of threading needles, and the tailor was soon transformed into a markswoman.

South Korean shooter Park Sea-kyun claimed the last title of the shooting competition at the Beijing Paralympics to lift his country to the top of the sport's medal tally, with four gold, three silver and two bronze Friday.

China followed with a total of seven medals: A gold, three silver and three bronze.

Russia ranked third with two gold, a silver and three bronze while Sweden, the leader in Athens, fell to fourth place with four medals despite Jacobsson contributing three titles in Beijing.

Matt Skelhon took the only medal for Britain by winning the mixed R3-10m air rifle prone SH1 and Veronika Vadovicova, who claimed the first Paralympic gold medal at the Beijing Games in women's R2-10m air rifle standing SH1, was the sole medal contributor for Slovakia.