Shooters shatter national records

Moch.N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Palembang

South Sumatra shooter Ridwan Gunawan and the Central Java team set new records in taking their golds at the National Games' shooting competition here on Wednesday.

Ridwan won gold in the individual free rifle 3 x 40 with a total score of 1206.6. He broke the national record of 1203.6 set by Sukarno at the 2004 national championships, which also served as the qualifying tournament for the current games.

Andi Hendrata of Central Java took the silver with a total score of 1199.9 and Gatot Puspojudo was awarded the bronze for his total score of 1198.

In the team free rifle event, the Central Java trio of Andi, Gatot and Bonnie Agus H took the gold with a total score of 3305, which was an improvement over the former record of 3287 set at the 13th National Games in Jakarta in 1992.

The victory also gave Gatot his fourth gold -- the same number of golds as Saro Zawato Zai of Riau.

The South Sumatra team, which consisted of Ridwan, Saptono, and Rahmat Wisnuaji, took the silver with a total score of 3286, while the bronze went to the West Java team, comprising Ari Setiatmoko, Saepullah and Agus Surachman, with a score of 3275.

In the rapid fire pistol, Irianto of Jakarta took gold with a total score of 652.8, followed by Syahroni A.M. of East Java with a score of 643.6, and Mukroni of Jakarta with a score of 640.6.

On Thursday, the shooting competition will continue with medals on offer for the standard pistol and sport rifle prone categories.