Veteran rifle shooter Suryani in jittery return to the range
The prospect of returning to training and pairing up with youngster Alia Husna Budruddin when shooting practice resumes at the National Sports Council (NSC) range left veteran air rifle shooter Nur Suryani Taibi restless, sleepless, excited and forgetful.
After four months of inactivity because of the movement control order, the shooters were given the green light to train again at the range.
All the full-time national shooters started training on Thursday while Suryani returned yesterday. The others back in training are Alia Sazana Azahari, Siau Zianyi, Haritz Iklil Hessly Hafiz, Nur Izazi Rosli, Sharifah Noor Elyana Syed Abdul Hamid, Dina Batrisyia Adi Azhar and Alia.
And on her first day Suryani sheepishly admitted that she had forgotten how to assemble the rifle because she could not recall where the parts of the rifle were kept at the range.
“For my category, there are lots of assembling that needs to be done. For a moment, I forgot where I placed the pieces,” joked 38-yearold Suryani.
“I guess I was just too anxious and excited at the same time. For me, the rifle is like my ‘boyfriend’, so when I got to hold it for my dry training, it was so joyful.
“For now, we are not using palettes and just relying on dry training to get a feel of the rifle and positioning. I got my feeling back immediately. I guess my experience helped.”
Pairing up with 19-year-old Alia Husna, who is touted as a future champion, will also be a big challenge for Suryani who added that her priority is to guide the youngster as they train together.
“I cannot do the coaching part, but I will motivate her through training. I would spur her to do better.
“If she asks any questions on positioning, I would surely advise her. In the past, we always used the buddy system to push each other, and I will do the same with Alia.”
Another positive for Suryani is her belief that age will not be an obstacle in shooting.
“Age should not be made a factor. If you really want something, you go for it. Whether you are 25 or 38, if you think nothing is impossible, then you are bound to succeed. Age should not even be in the equation.”
In her last competition, Suryani bagged gold in the 50m rifle three-position event in the President Ally T. H. Ong Trophy in March. She also finished third in last year’s Asian Shooting Championship’s in the 50m air rifle prone competition.