Shooting: Singapore targeting six gold medals at next year's SEA Games

Singapore Shooting Association president Michael Vaz has set his shooters a target of six gold medals at next year's Singapore SEA Games. -- ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG
Singapore Shooting Association president Michael Vaz has set his shooters a target of six gold medals at next year's Singapore SEA Games. -- ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG

Singapore Shooting Association president Michael Vaz has set his shooters a target of six gold medals at next year's Singapore SEA Games.

Said the former national shooter: "Our high performance team told the Singapore National Olympic Council that the target is six gold medals. We're fortunate in that all clay-target teams (in the region) are devastated, so we are not too bad now. We have a training programme for the national shooters, after our selections three months from now. But we pretty much have in mind who will be in the team."

Vaz, who was appointed president last year, was speaking at the sidelines of the Southeast Asia Shooting Championship, a regional meet which Singapore is hosting this year as preparation for next year's SEA Games.

The National Shooting Centre now boasts boasts 40 25-metre ranges, up from 20 previously. The ranges, including the existing 16 50-metre ranges, are all equipped with electronic targets, a departure from paper targets used previously.

Vaz said he wants the new and improved facilities to host four major shooting competitions a year.

He said: "By hosting more competitions, we can also give young shooters who don't normally represent Singapore overseas a chance to compete against the region's top shooters.

"There are over 450 shooters here for the championships, about three times more than what we expect for the SEA Games. So we've thrown our organising team into the deep end but they are holding up very well."

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