AICHI: National shooter Gan Chen Jie received an eye-opening introduction to the Asian Games as she witnessed first-hand the gulf separating Malaysia from the continent’s shooting powerhouses.
But the 22-year-old debutant can take heart from emerging as Malaysia’s best performer in the women’s 10m air rifle, finishing 16th with a score of 628.1 at the Aichi Prefectural Shooting Range yesterday.
She did better than her senior teammates Alia Husna Budruddin (619.3) and Nur Suryani Taibi (610.1) who finished 44th and 52nd respectively.
With their combined score, they finished 14th in the team event with 1857.5 points while China captured the gold with a world record mark of 1904.2, eclipsing their previous score of 1902.0.
India took silver with 1898.0, while Japan claimed bronze with 1897.1.
The Negri Sembilan lass Chen Jie, who was unbeatable in the junior ranks, was in awe of the consistency shown by the best from Asia.
"I was watching some of the top shooters, especially China's Wang Zifei and Korea's Ban Hyo-jin, and paying attention to how they managed their shots and stayed consistent throughout the game," said Chen Jie.
Zifei and Hyo-jin, topped the qualifying standings with 636.8 and 634.9 points respectively.
But Zifei, the world qualification record holder with 637.9 and who broke the Asian Games record, finished fifth with 188.2.
Japan's Taichi Hinata won gold with 253.0 points, ahead of India's Elavanil Valarivan (252.4) and South Korea's Ban Hyo-jin (230.4).
"To consistently reach the final at this level, I think you need strong technical skills, consistency, and good mental control.
The competition is very close, so being able to stay focused and stick to your process is really important."
Reflecting on her own result, Chen Jie said she was satisfied.
"The competition level is really high because Asia has many strong shooters in our sport.
"I'm happy I was able to compete against the best athletes, and it was a good experience for me to see where I stand and what I can still improve on."
Chen Jie added that she has settled in well in Nagoya despite the one-hour distance between the athletes' hotel and the venue.
"I really like the atmosphere in Nagoya, and the food provided has been really good so far."
She will next compete in the 50m rifle three positions event on Sept 26.
