China's Cheng Changjie releases an arrow in the final of men's individual recurve W1/2 event of the archery competition. He won the gold. [China Daily]

A month after Zhang Juanjuan won China its first Olympic gold in archery, the host saw its national flag rise again in the same location.

Para-archer Cheng Changjie took gold after defeating Italian Marco Vitale 108-104 in the last individual archery event, the men's individual recurve w1/w2.

Cheng got off to a rough start in the series, but later gained momentum, earning a spot in the second and third series. Eventually, he made his way to the final, where things became a little tense.

Vitale shot the first arrow -- a 10. On the second shot, both archers notched 9. Cheng had only a two-point cushion against Vitale, 99-97.

And as the thousands of spectators watched anxiously, Vitale shot only a 7, giving the Chinese hope.

Cheng lived up to the expectations of his supporters, finishing his performance with a third 9.

Fans roared in excitement as the champion unfolded a national flag and waved.

"I am so happy to be here," said Cheng, who lost his right leg in a car accident.

Bronze was taken by Tseng Lung-hui from Chinese Taipei, who won the medal after a shoot-off.

"I was so lucky," Tseng said, adding he had recorded Cheng's performance on his video camera, which he will take back to show his fellow archers. "I will tell them, 'look, this is the performance of the gold medalist'."

In the men's individual compound W1, Czech archer David Drahoninsky outscored world record holder Briton John Cavanagh 108-103 - and after winning gold, the man with his hair dyed in the colors of the Czech national flag rocked on his wheelchair.

American Jeff Fabry clinched bronze. The archer, who shoots using a mouth operated release aid, set a Paralympic record at the quarterfinals last Friday.

While Drahoninsky was pleased with his gold, he was disappointed he didn't compete for the win against bronze medalist Fabry, who has defeated him several times before.

"This time, I really wanted to meet him (Fabry) in the final and beat him, but unfortunately he didn't enter the final," said the 26-year-old, who has cerebral palsy.

"The gold will have to wait four more years," was Fabry's response. "I am overwhelmed by it all, but I'm happy to have won the bronze. At least I won a medal, that's what I came to do."

Xinhua