Charles hopes to finally gun down his first medal

PETALING JAYA: Old- timer Charles Chen hopes to finally win his first medal in trap shooting in his fifth Commonwealth Games.

The 52-year-old, an electrical engineer by profession, has fired blanks in his four previous attempts.

“Hopefully, I’ll get it right in my fifth attempt,” said Charles, who will compete in the individual trap from April 13-14.

The National Shooting Association of Malaysia (NSAM) had appealed to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) on March 7 to consider Charles after he bettered the sixth-place qualifying mark from the previous Games results (114).

“I was selected based on the 116 I shot in the SEASA Championships held in Kuala Lumpur last year,” said Charles.

“The appeal was successful and I’m more determined not to squander the opportunity.”

Charles, who holds the national records of the preliminary and final rounds, said he would not repeat his past mistakes.

“I won’t be going there early. We left 10 days before the Glasgow Games and the long wait kind of killed the rhythm. I finished in 21st place,” he said.

Charles made his Commonwealth Games debut at KL 1998 and went on to feature in Melbourne (2006), New Delhi (2010) and Glasgow (2014).

Charles said age has not slowed him down.