Johnathan to work on mental strength after final defeats

SHOOTER Johnathan Wong leaves

Gold Coast without a medal but he’s taking back home loads of invaluable experience.

The debutant bowed out of the Games by finishing seventh in the

50m air pistol with a score of 126.0 at the Belmont Shooting Centre yesterday.

The Olympian managed an impressive 10.7 in the deciding final shot but it was not good enough to save him from an early elimination.

Australia’s Daniel Repacholi took the gold with a Games record of 227.2 points.

Debutant Shakil Ahmed of Bangladesh nicked a silver with 220.5 while India’s Om Mitharval settled for bronze with 201.1.

For Johnathan, it was his second final appearance in the Games after finishing eighth in his pet event – the 10m air pistol two days ago.

Two finals in two events is not bad and Johnathan hopes to be more consistent.

“I was upset when I lost in the 10m air pistol but today, I’ve suprised myself to enter the 50m final.

“I’ve learnt that I’ve to be mentally stronger.

“I must be able to handle windy conditions, nerves and expectations in finals ... I’ll get better with more experience.”

Johnathan will shift his focus to the Asian Games and World Championships.

The world meet is a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, it was all over for Benjamin Khor and Abraham Eng when they failed to qualify for the men’s double trap after finishing 15th and 16th respectively in a field of 27 shooters.