RI shooters bag first SEA Games medals<\/p>\n
By Novan Iman Santosa<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Indonesian women sharp shooters hit the
\ntarget on the first day of Southeast Asian Games here on Saturday
\nwith a two-gold romp in the 75-target trap event.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian trio of Supadmi, Sarmunah and Sylvia Silimang
\ndominated the opening event in the shooting competition, being
\nheld at the Subang Shooting Range in Subang, Selangor, some 20
\nkilometers west of here, combining 188 points over three rounds
\nto secure the Games maiden gold medal.<\/p>\n
In the team's first round, Supadmi scored 19, Sarmunah
\nproduced 20 and Sylvia made 21. Supadmi improved to 20 in the
\nsecond round while Sarmunah advanced to 23 points but Sylvia
\ndropped back to 19 points.<\/p>\n
Sylvia, however, made amends for her lapse in the final round
\nwith 23 points. Sarmunah maintained her form for 23 points and
\nSupadmi was on par with 20 points.<\/p>\n
The 75-target trap event is divided into three rounds in which
\neach competitor shoots as many clay discs, which are shot out by
\nmachine, as possible. Each shooter has to fire at a disc twice in
\na single load. The shooters are divided into squads who take
\nturns to shoot from five shooting stations.<\/p>\n
Finishing second was Singapore which scored 158 points from
\nGoh Chung Wei's 155 (15-18-22), Aihni binti Samat's 52 (16-16-20)
\nand Tan Poh Tian's 51 (12-20-19).<\/p>\n
Vietnam came third although scoring 158 points also. Hoang Thi
\nTuat made 61 (19-22-20), Dang Thi Thu Trang 50 (17-19-14) and
\nNguyen Thi Tuyet Mai 47 (13-15-19).<\/p>\n
Sarmunah completed Indonesia's clean sweep in the day by
\nclinching the individual gold medal with a total score of 88,
\nfollowed by Sylvia who made 86 points.<\/p>\n
Indonesia team manager, Benny Mamoto, told reporters that such
\na winning start was unexpected, considering his squad's poor
\npreparation.<\/p>\n
\"We must thank God that our shooters were able to do their
\nbest despite the lack of preparations back home. The difficulties
\nhave instead given them a boost to do their best,\" he said while
\nholding back tears.<\/p>\n
\"We did not hire foreign coaches like other teams. We had to
\nshare the knowledge piece by piece by having discussions with
\nthese foreign coaches.\"<\/p>\n
He said he immediately called the Indonesian Target Shooting
\nand Hunting Association (Perbakin) chairman and Jakarta Governor
\nSutiyoso, at home.<\/p>\n
Benny asserted that the national shooters produced a
\nsignificant improvement compared to their last outing.<\/p>\n
\"They scored only 162 at a sports festival in August in
\nSingapore, but today they far exceeded the mark. This is a great
\nachievement considering our poor preparation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Benny said his team would keep an eye on Vietnamese shooters,
\nwho have long been the dominant force in the region. Vietnam
\nruled the roost at the last two Southeast Asian Shooting
\nAssociation (SEASA) championships in Bangkok and Hanoi.<\/p>\n
Another strong opponent is Thailand.<\/p>\n
\"Thailand's Supawan Karjaejuntasak has good potential. During
\nFriday's practice session she made a perfect score of 25 points
\nin a round. But I think she was getting overconfident and that's
\nwhy she slumped today,\" said Benny. \"On the other hand, our
\nshooters just tried to maintain their consistency.\"<\/p>",
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