The 24-year-old prevailed with a total of 1,457 points at AGF Field, within the Tokyo Stadium complex in Musashino Forest.

The silver medal went to Germany's Marvin Dogue with 1,456 points, while China's Li Shuhuan claimed bronze with 1,446. 

A trademark sprint finish saw Choong take victory ahead of Dogue on the home straight of the laser run.

It secured him the first senior gold of his career in one of the sport’s flagship events.

"It feels amazing," Choong said.

"In the early stages, I just wanted to stay in contention, knowing that when it came to the last lap I would back myself as I have done all season.

"Two of my shoots weren’t great and put a bit of pressure on me but a few others didn’t manage to hold their nerve either, and luckily when it came to the last lap I was still up there."

Reigning Olympic champion and two-times individual world champion Aleksander Lesun of Russia had to settle for a seventh-place finish.

"Lesun has been world champion and Olympic champion and everything in between, so it’s always nice to try and get one up on him from time to time," Choong said.

"As we came into the last two laps, I knew the Chinese athlete wasn’t far behind, but I felt that even if he overtook I would overtake him on the last lap.

"I think I had eight or nine shots in the final shoot and my average this season has been 5.2, so I was actually quite disappointed, but it all came good in the end.

"I actually feel a bit sorry for Marvin because I did the same thing to him in Prague [to take the silver medal behind Lesun]. 

"But it feels so good to have the Olympic place. 

"I’d like to thank UK Sport and my parents for their support over the years. 

"They have been fantastic."

Dogue expressed his delight with his silver medal-winning performance.

"I started very slowly with very bad shooting but I didn’t feel under much pressure because I thought everyone in front of me was good," he said.

"But then I saw that some of them were starting to struggle on the shooting range, maybe because of the weather.

"I was catching up and tried to push myself and focus on myself, and I realised I had nothing to lose. 

"I knew Joe was fast from the last World Cup when he beat me in the same situation.

"This time, I started to push myself but he had more than me again.

"I try my best to push myself as hard as I can but I will have to keep working on my sprints, because this shouldn’t happen again."

Action at the UIPM World Cup Final is due to conclude tomorrow with the mixed relay.

The event doubles as a test event for Tokyo 2020.