Munich joy for local shooter

Adele Tan, 20, stakes Olympic claim with H&N Cup 10m air rifle gold in national record

Adele Tan at last month's SEA Games in the Philippines, where she won bronze medals in the women's 10m air rifle and mixed 10m air rifle.
Adele Tan at last month's SEA Games in the Philippines, where she won bronze medals in the women's 10m air rifle and mixed 10m air rifle. PHOTO: SPORT SG

Munich has been a happy hunting ground for Singapore's shooters, and on Saturday Adele Tan celebrated a gold medal in women's 10m air rifle at the H&N Cup, setting a national mark in the process.

Her score of 252.7 points in the final helped her edge Chinese shooter Yang Qian's effort of 251.7. In third place was Russian Anastasiia Galashina with 230.7.

Tan had won two bronze medals at the SEA Games in Philippines last month, in the women's 10m air rifle and mixed 10m air rifle events.

The 20-year-old's total score of 632.5 in Munich saw her eclipse teammate Ho Xiu Yi's previous national mark of 630.8, set in January 2019 in the Bavarian capital.

Tan said: "Thank you to the Singapore Shooting Association (SSA) and Singapore Sports School for their never-ending support.

"I was only able to achieve the national record and gold medal because of intensive training with my coach (Song Haiping) and psychologist (Dr Harry Lim)."

Tan is a Singapore Sports School alumna and graduated last year, but the school still allowed her to train at its facility.

Her victory in Munich comes on the back of a number of other milestones for Singapore shooters.

The city was was also where Martina Veloso had set a junior qualification world record and national record in the 50m rifle three positions at the 2018 ISSF World Cup.

It was the venue where Veloso, the Republic's 2019 Sportswoman of the Year, had won gold in the 2014 ISSF World Cup, beating the Czech Republic's Olympic champion Katerina Emmons and European champion Andrea Arsovic of Serbia.

Tan, Ho and Veloso had also teamed up to finish second in the 10m air rifle team at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Germany in 2018, although that competition was held in the city of Suhl.

Two years before that, Tan and Veloso partnered Tessa Neo to capture a bronze in the same event of the same competition, also in Suhl.

Tan has her sights set on this year's Tokyo Olympics.

Neo has secured Singapore a quota spot in the women's 10m air rifle thanks to her silver medal at last November's Asian Shooting Championship. The decision on who will represent Singapore lies with the SSA and the Singapore National Olympic Council.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 27, 2020, with the headline Munich joy for local shooter. Subscribe