SEA Games champ wins gold to keep Olympic hopes alive

On point: Alia Sazana in action in the women’s 25m pistol category at the Selangor Shooting Championships yesterday. — MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The Star

SUBANG: National shooter Alia Sazana Azahari has put herself in the driving seat to win a wild card for the Tokyo Olympic Games, thanks to a fine showing at the Selangor Shooting Championships.

The 26-year-old bubbly Alia shot down a gold in her pet event after coming through a nail-biting final in the women’s 25m pistol at the Subang Shooting Range yesterday.

Alia and Siti Nur Masitah Mohd Badrin were tied at 27-27 in a battle between the two seasoned campaigners that went down the wire but the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games champion Alia showed great mental strength to win in a shoot-off with a 4-3 score.

The pregnant Masitah settled for a silver while Bibiana Ng took the bronze with 23 points.

The win in the Selangor Open is important for Alia as it is one of the tournaments used by the National Shooting Association of Malaysia (NSAM) to determine the wild card recipient for the Tokyo Games from July 25-Aug 9.

None of the shooters have qualified on merit but NSAM have been given one slot for the Olympics. Besides Alia, the others hoping to make the trip to Tokyo are Johnathan Wong, Nur Suryani Taibi and several others in the team.

Suryani, who represented Malaysia at the 2012 London Olympics, made life difficult by finishing second the women’s 10m air rifle with a score of 241.6. She was pipped to the gold by Nur Izazi Rosli from Kuala Lumpur, who powered her way to the top with 244.0 points.

Men

50m pistol

Individual: 1. Abdul Hadi Malek (Police) 530, 2. Wan Mohd Syafiq (Pah) 519, 3. Mohd Adib Abu Hassan (Pah) 586.

Team: 1. Pahang 1543, 2. Johor 1526, 3. Police 1728.

Women

10m air rifle

Individual: 1. Nur Izazi Rosli (KL) 244.0, 2. Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi (Armed Forces) 241.6, 3. Mumtazah Mawaddah Shamsuri (Joh) 220.7

Team: 1. Perak 1839, 2. Johor 1817, 3. Pahang 1804.

25m pistol

Individual: 1. Alia Sazana Azahari (Ter) 27 (S-off 4), 2. Siti Nur Masitah Mohd Badrin (Armed Forces) 27 (S-off 3), 3. Bibiana Ng Pei Chin (Police) 23.

Team: 1. Johor 1662, 2. Police 1661, 3. Pahang 1654.