SHAHERA STAYS CAUTIOUS
Shooter believes there is room for improvement despite setting national record
DESPITE setting a new national record en route to winning the women’s 10m air rifle gold at the National Shooting Championships yesterday, Shahera Rahim Raja believes there is still much room for improvement ahead of the Sea Games next month.
Shahera was not happy that she came in fourth in the qualifying round at the Subang Shooting Range on 407.6 and stressed that she needs to improve if she is to achieve her goal of winning a medal at the Sea Games.
“I am quite satisfied with my performance in the final. Beating a national record is always a good confidence booster,” said the 32year-old.
“But 407 (in qualifying) won’t guarantee me a spot in the Sea Games final so I am not too happy with that. I have to work harder to improve in the coming weeks.
“My personal best for qualifying is 416 and I hope to at least average 413. This will ensure that my place in the top-eight is secure.”
Shahera, who will be competing in her fourth Sea Games. added that she will be banking on her vast experience which includes winning silver in the 10m air rifle team at the 2007 and 2009 games.
She, however, will only be competing in the individual event this time as no team events are on offer.
“I missed out on the 2013 (Myanmar) and 2015 (Singapore) games as I was pregnant on both occasions so I am very much looking forward to competing in the Sea Games again.
“I feel I am a lot more mature now and have a lot of experience to draw on. It definitely helps as mental strength plays a big role in shooting.
“I am also looking forward to competing at home. We will have a slight advantage in terms of familiarity with the venue and I hope to capitalise on that as well.”
The Selangor-born fired 246.8 in the final to clinch the women’s 10 metre air rifle gold and erase the national mark of 246.3 set by Nur Ayuni Farhana Abd Halim (Pahang) at the Tun Hanif Trophy in March.
Fellow Sea Games teammate Nur Izazi Rosli (KL) and Muslifah Zulkifli (Armed Forces) came in second and third on 245.0 and 222.1 respectively.
Izazi had broken her own national junior record for a qualifying round when she shot 418.1 to top the preliminaries in the morning. Her former record stood at 413.6 (2015).
The men’s skeet final saw Joseph Lee (Selangor) winning the event in a new national record of 52, which bettered the former national mark of 44 set by Omar Risman (Selangor) at the Selangor Open this year.
Joseph also broke the national record for a qualifying round in the same discipline when he shot 118 to top the preliminaries. Ricky Teh (Selangor) had set the former record of 110 at the Selangor Open last year.
Eddy Chew (Johor), who broke the national record en route to winning the men’s 10m air pistol yesterday, won the 50m free pistol gold.