Alia and Hazli on a wing and a prayer in Brazil for Olympics spots
PETALING JAYA: National shooters Alia Sazana Azahari and Hasli Izwan Amir Hassan are going for one last push to earn a ticket to the Olympic Games at the ongoing World Qualifying event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Alia and Hasli are hoping to join Johnathan Wong in the Paris Olympics in July as this is their last chance to qualify.
Alia is hoping to redeem herself in Rio de Janeiro after a disappointing performance at the previous Olympic qualifying opportunity in Jakarta earlier this year.
The 32-year-old finished 25th in the women’s 25m pistol event at the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Indonesia as her score of 572 was far from her personal best of 586.
In Brazil, Alia had competed in the women’s 10m air pistol event but failed to qualify for the final. Her total score of 540 meant she finished second last in 78th.
National Shooting Association of Malaysia (NSAM) vice-president and national team manager Datuk Musa Omar said the air pistol event was a practice round for Alia before her main 25m pistol event.
“Since she is already in Brazil, she might as well compete in the air pistol event since it would be good practice for her precision in her main event,” he said.
Whether or not Alia will clinch a last-minute ticket to Paris will only be known tomorrow if she qualifies for the 25m pistol final.
Her hopes of making it to Paris were boosted after she broke her own national record at the Tun Hanif Trophy last month, scoring 39 points to erase her old record of 36 set at the Chia Woh Trophy in June last year.
For Hasli, his chances of heading to Paris will also be known tomorrow when he competes in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol event.
The 47-year-old SEA Games gold medallist will be hoping to make his second Olympics appearance after finishing 15th at the 2008 edition in Beijing, China. Meanwhile, Musa hopes Johnathan’s performance will peak at the right time in Paris.
“This is his second Olympics and I think he is mentally and physically prepared.
“He has the experience of preparing for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro before. He should be able to overcome any weaknesses and concentrate on shooting correctly and accurately.
“He is an experienced shooter and I am confident he will enter the final and make us proud,” added Musa.