Shooters have improved a lot under Koreans, says Joseline

PISTOL shooters from Vietnam and Singapore are very much feared in the region, but Malaysia’s Joseline Cheah is not worried about them.

“The only enemy I have to deal with is myself,” said the 33-year-old after a training session at the National Shooting Centre in Subang.

“The battle can be won if I just stick to what I’ve learnt during training and stay focused.” JJoseline is hoping to end her long wait for an individual gold in her fifth SEA Games when she competes in the women’s 10m air pistol. “I’ve won medals, but not goldgd. It has somehow eluded me. I plan not to let it slip through my hands again,” said Joseline, who came close to winning it in Singapore two years ago when she and teammates Bibiana Ng and Wahidah Ismail gave a good fight to Thailand before settling for silver.

“This time, we don’t have team events. So, I’ve basically got one shot to come good.”

Joseline also said that the presence of head coach Park Sang-soon and two other South Korean coaches have seen the national shooters showing improved performances in training.

“Our shooting styles have changed and skills have improved. It’s positive and we hope to translate that into good results,” she said.

The other women pistol shooters are Bibiana ( 10m air pistol, 25m sport pistol); and Alia Sazana Azaari (25m sport pistol).

The men are Eddy Chew (10m air pistol, 50m pistol), Johnathan Wong Guanjie (10m air pistol, 50m pistol); Hasli Izwan Amir Hasan (25m rapid fire); and Hafiz Adzha (25m rapid fire).

In Singapore, Malaysia won only two golds through Alia (25m sport pistol) and Nur Ayuni Farhana Abdul Halim (50m rifle three position).