Ezuan unhappy after missing final by a whisker

Muhd Ezuan Nasir Khan

NATIONAL air rifle shooter Muhd Ezuan Nasir Khan felt like kicking himself after missing the final by a mere 0.6 point.

He was in eighth position and two shots away from qualifying for the final of the men’s 10m air rifle event at the Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane yesterday.

But the experienced Ezuan lost focus and dropped to ninth with a score of 614.6 points. England’s Dean Bale overtook Ezuan by firing two decent shots to finish eighth with 615.1 points.

The 29-year-old Ezuan, who finished sixth in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games four years ago, was visibly upset.

“I wanted to improve my personal best of 622.7 but I fizzled out in my last two shots,” said Ezuan.

“I’m disappointed with my inconsistent performance and it’s a painful lesson. I cannot afford to do the same in the 50m prone (tomorrow),” said Ezuan, who won a silver in the 50m prone event at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

Dane Sampson of Australia shot down the Games record with a score of 245.0 points to win the gold, erasing the previous record of 205.3 set by India’s Abhinav Bindra in Glasgow in 2014.

Abdullah Baki of Bangladesh settled for silver again with 244.7 while Ravi Kumar of India bagged a bronze with 224.1.

Bibiana Ng Pei Chin was a big letdown for Malaysia in the women’s 10m air pistol when she only managed 370 to finish 11th.

The 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games gold medallist – featuring in her sixth consecutive Games – refused to speak to the media, obviously disappointed with herself.

The 41-year-old Bibiana was shamed by a 16-year-old Manu Bhaker of India, who shattered two Games records en route to winning the gold with a score of 388 in the qualifying and 240.9 in the final.