KUALA LUMPUR: Pistol shooters Mumtazah Syahiidah Shamsuri and Nurul Syasya Nadia Ariffin offer Malaysia hope of winning gold medals at the 2021 Vietnam Sea Games following the national team’s disappointing performance at last year’s Philippines edition.
In last year’s Sea Games, the national shooters won only two silver and four bronze medals.
Mumtazah, 16, and the 18-year-old Syasya, who are being groomed for the 10m and 25m pistol events, will now focus on the Malaysia Games in July.
The pair showed their prowess at the recent Selangor Shooting Championships in Subang, when they did better than former Commonwealth Games champion Bibiana Ng, 43, and seasoned campaigner Joseline Cheah, 37.
Syasha smashed Joseline’s qualifying record (553) by posting 574 points in the 10m air pistol event.
In the final, however, Mumtazah outgunned Syasya for the gold.
Their coach Mohamed Firdaus said the pair are very talented, and is confident they will achieve good results in the future.
“Despite being only junior shooters, they have already achieved good results in senior-level competitions.
“It is not easy to beat senior shooters and it shows they can go far. I believe they will make the national team for next year’s Sea Games.
“Mumtazah is mentally quite strong, which is an advantage during medal rounds of competitions.
“She needs to compete against her seniors and foreign shooters regularly to make further inroads.
“Bibiana and Joseline are still the best in the pistol events. Syasha and Mumtazah can learn from them,” said Firdaus.
The duo are training with the Johor team under Firdaus.
Bibiana said Mumtazah and Syasya’s progress is good for the sport.
“Both have the talent and I believe they can go far. We need more quality shooters in the pistol events,” said the Sarawak-born shooter who has no plans of retiring.
Bibiana’s last major success was winning the 10m air pistol gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.