SINGAPORE - Singapore's shooters had nothing to show for after the first day of competition at Palembang's Jakabaring International Shooting Range.

Two pairs of mixed doubles were in action earlier on Sunday (Aug 19), and while the performances were different, the end result was the same - both Martina Veloso and Mohamad Irwan in the 10m air rifle, and Teh Xiu Hong and Gai Bin in the 10m air pistol, failed to qualify for their respective finals.

Only the top five pairs earn the right to line up in the final shoot-off, with Teh and Gai's score of 753 far off the mark of the 759 shot by the Kazakhstan pair of Zauresh Baibussinova and Vladimir Issachenko, who qualified fifth.

In contrast, the Veloso-Irwan pairing missed out by a mere 0.1 point.

Their total of 829.7 saw them pipped to the final qualifying slot by the Chinese Taipei duo of Lin Ying-shin and Lu Shao-chuan. The Singapore pair left the range wondering what could have been.

"If it had been a bigger margin, I'd be fine, but it was so close," lamented Veloso. "I shot a bad shot - a 9.4 - in the last series, and if I hadn't done that, if I had just scored a 10, we'd be preparing for the final now."

But both were ready to put the disappointment behind them.

Said Irwan: "I'm taking this as a learning point, experience can only make you stronger."