Qamarul shows he can be a hotshot despite disadvantages
TERENGGANU’S Qamarul Naim
Abu Aziz stood tall despite adversities to fire his way to a new Games record en route to winning the boys’
50m pistol event at the Darul Ridzuan Shooting Range.
Qamarul shattered the Games record by one point with a score of
541. The previous Games record of 540 was registered by Muhamad Muhaithir Johari of Pahang in 2012 and equalled by Jasmi Mohamad Zin of Negri Sembilan in 2014.
A distant second behind Qamarul was Perak’s Siau Zianyi at 530 points while Hudzriy Jaslan of Johor took the bronze with 517.
Qamarul was happy that his sacrifices paid off.
He had to travel to Pahang on weekends for training because Terengganu did not have enough facilities for shooting. He even went to Perlis with his teammates for one week before the Sukma as part of his preparation.
“This win is really unexpected because we lack training facilities for shooting in Terengganu. Our team always have to train in other states,” said Qamarul.
“Today, I felt good, relaxed and managed to stay focused. I remembered my coach’s advice during training and put it into practice during the competition.”
Qamarul’s strong showing, however, was not good enough to win a double for Terengganu as he settled for silver in the team event. Perak and Terengganu scored a total of 1,534 points but the hosts won on countback after hitting the target 14 times compared to Terengganu’s 11.
In the girls’ 10m air rifle event, national shooter Nur Izazi Rosli of Federal Territories fired her way to a gold with a score of 623.3 points.
It was the first time the event was contested over six series instead of four and Izazi finished ahead of Shalyn Najjihah Muhd Sharif of Pahang (620.7) and Perak’s Nur Fatin Syairah Abdul Lathif (619.2).
“I gained a lot of experience from the Asian Games which really helped me.
“And having the benefit of the national team's training facilities really helped me improve my shooting skills,” said Nur Izazi, who finished 10th in the event at the Asiad in Indonesia last month.