Singapore Shooters win Silver in Melbourne

Singapore shooters Zhang Jingna and Vanessa Yong shot their way to a silver medal in the 10m air-rifle pairs on opening day of the Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championships in Melbourne yesterday.

They posted a combined score of 778 to pip British pair Rebecca Spicer and Leah Brough by a single point in the battle of nerves.

India's Anjali Bhagwat and Zanane Chinmoypormin were not threatened as they clinched the gold with a convincing 785 score.

Jingna's impressive score of 395 - five short of the perfect score of 400 - also won her the gold badge, which is awarded to the top individual shooter at the event. It was also the 16-year-old's personal best at an international tournament. Her previous best of 394 was set at the 2003 South-east Asia Shooting Championships in Taipei. The SEA Games record is 398.

Said the former Raffles Girls' School student: 'I could have done better, but my second and fourth series were not very good.' She scored perfect 100s in her first and third series.

She added: 'My goal is to reach 397 or 398 before the SEA Games in November.'

Vanessa, who scored 383, was quick to heap praise on her partner. 'Honestly, I didn't expect to win a medal,' she said. 'Jingna did very well to pull up our score.'

Kenneth Tan and Ong Jun Hong added another silver in the men's 10m air-rifle pairs with a combined score of 1,167. The gold went to Indian pair Gagan Narang and Manoj Kumar, who scored 1,183.

The championships, which feature 22 countries, will run till next Saturday.

from The Straits Times Interactive, March 12, 2005