PETALING JAYA: Age and distance will not stop national shooter Nur Suryani Taibi from giving her best at the Asian Games.
At 43, Suryani is one of the oldest athletes in the Malaysian contingent, but she is ready to take the long road in her bid for success in Aichi-Nagoya.
Suryani and her teammates face an hour-long journey from their hotel to the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Range, but they are not letting it affect their preparations.
The shooting action starts today with the women’s 10m air rifle, where Suryani, Gan Chen Jie and Alia Husna Budruddin will be hoping to shine in both the individual and team events.
National shooting coach Mohd Firdaus Abd Rahim stressed that the travelling distance would not be an issue for his charges, led by the experienced Suryani.
"Everything is good here. The weather tends to be gloomy, and the distance between the hotel and venue is quite far," said Firdaus.
"But it’s really not an issue for us. We have been preparing for some time now and had our training in Sarawak, including training during heavy haze.
"So my athletes are well prepared for any situation, and I believe they can all deliver."
He said they would not worry about traditional powerhouses such as China and India.
"We are not putting a big target on our shooters or saying they must win medals," he said.
"We don’t want to have big expectations and then be unable to deliver them.
"We are also not looking at other countries like China and India. We need to perfect what we have been doing leading up to this. The progress has been good, and we just need to continue building on it," he said.
Meanwhile, Nurul Syasya Nadiah Mohd Ariffin will compete in the women's 10m air pistol on Wednesday while Johnathan Wong gets into action on Thursday in the men’s 10m air pistol.
Alia Sazana Azahari will shoot in the women’s 25m air pistol event next Sunday.
