Shooters Fired Up

Shooting Competitions

As the COVID-19 situation stabilises in Singapore, sport activities are slowly taking an upturn as well, with talk of competitions under safe management measures. Singapore’s shooters finally had a target in sight as Singapore Shooting Association organised first the SSA Shoot (September) and then a friendly competition with Thailand and Iran.

The SSA Shoot (September), held on 19 September 2020 in two locations – Singapore Sports School and the National Shooting Centre in Choa Chu Kang, saw participation by 49 national senior and youth shooters. Four Sports School’s student-athletes and alumna emerged amongst the top of their game across the four air pistol and air rifle events.

Sisters Adele Tan Qian Xiu (alumna) and Fernel Tan Qian Ni (DBS Year 2) emerged top two in a field of 15 women in the 10m Air Rifle event, hitting scores of 249.9 and 248.1 points respectively. In the Men’s categories, Secondary 4 shooters Tang Hong An and Teo Jia En came in second in the Air Rifle and Air Pistol events respectively.

The sister duo also fared well in a second shoot-out less than two weeks later. In a similar hybrid competition format, Singapore’s national air riflers went up against the Thais and Iranians in a three-nation friendly on 2 October. Sports School’s student-athletes and alumnae made up one-third of the 18-strong field in the Women’s division; only Adele and Fernel made the top-eight cut. Adele’s score of 251.4 points in the Final placed her in second position, between two Iranians Najme Khedmati (252.7 points) and Fatemeh Karamzadeh (230.5 points).

“It feels like I’m alive again, although the competition nerves are definitely not the same as compared to when competing in a world cup or major competition. COVID-19 made me more aware of my passion for shooting. During these months when there was little extrinsic motivations such as winning medals, it required a tremendous amount of intrinsic motivation to continue training when there were no competitions to look forward to,” said Adele.

“While the 2021 Olympic Games remain an uncertainty, shooters are still supported strongly by SSA who are working on organising competitions several times a month for us to ensure that we don’t lose our competitive edge. The coronavirus pandemic has taught me to be prepared and face this situation realistically, to adapt and go with the flow now, because ultimately, my end goal is the Olympics, it doesn’t matter whether it happens next year or 2024 or even later.”

Two present and past student-athletes – Tang Hong An and Marat Lleyton P Veloso – competed in the Men’s division. Both shooters, not older than 17 years old, beat two rivals to enter the final eight contenders.

Sports School’s Shooting Academy also seized the opportunity to organise an intra-Academy shoot, named “COVID-19 Shoot”, coinciding with SSA’s September shoot-out. Prizes for six categories and events were up for grabs. It was a mixed-gender contest, with student-athletes divided into their respective age-groups – “A”, “B” and “C” Divisions – and weapon types. Competition in the Air Pistol “A” Division was stiff as Emily Kek Jia Yi (DSPM Year 2) and Shirlene Hew Yun Ting (IBDP Year 6) tied on points after 60 shots. The gold eventually went to Emily who shot a higher number of inner 10s. The Air Rifle events were heavily dominated by the females, sweeping clean in the “A” Division and two out of three medals in the “B” and “C” divisions.

“Being able to compete again was a great feeling as it allows me to keep track of my sport’s progression and know where I stand against other shooters. The academy-organised COVID-19 Shoot was a very good idea because it shows that competitions can still be held with safe distancing measures in place and that the virus will not deter our sport progress,” said Jia En.

RESULTS

SSA Shoot (September)

Air Rifle Women

2nd – Adele Tan Qian Xiu

Singapore-Thailand-Iran Friendly

Air Pistol Men

2nd – Teo Jia En

Air Rifle Men

2nd – Tang Hong An

Air Rifle Women

1st – Adele Tan Qian Xiu

2nd – Fernel Tan Qian Ni

Singapore Sports School COVID-19 Shoot

Air Pistol ‘A’ Division

1st – Emily Kek Jia Yi

2nd – Shirlene Hew Yun Ting

3rd – Chan Yi Xuan

Air Pistol ‘B’ Division

1st – Teo Jia En

2nd – Kevyn Loh Zheng Lin

3rd – Maxx Lee Yu Wei

Air Pistol ‘C’ Division

1st – Adrian Osman

2nd – Eugene Kek Jia Jian

3rd – Elijah Cody Liu Yinshang

Air Rifle ‘A’ Division

1st – Fernel Tan Qian Ni

2nd – Cecilia Ng

3rd – Callie Siah Yong Xin

Air Rifle ‘B’ Division

1st – Tang Hong An

2nd – Ariana Beh Yoke Ching

3rd – Emma Jane Pragasam

Air Rifle ‘C’ Division

1st – Faithe Odelia de Souza

2nd – Soh Yiwei

3rd – Mathius Chua