Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Young shooter scores at AYG

SINGAPORE — Age is certainly no barrier for Martina Lindsay Veloso — the 14-year-old clinched the Republic’s first medal at the 2nd Asian Youth Games (AYG) with a bronze in the girls’ 10m air rifle final in Nanjing, China.

Martina was delighted to win Singapore’s first AYG medal despite narrowly missing out  on a silver. Photo: Singapore Sports School

Martina was delighted to win Singapore’s first AYG medal despite narrowly missing out on a silver. Photo: Singapore Sports School

SINGAPORE — Age is certainly no barrier for Martina Lindsay Veloso — the 14-year-old clinched the Republic’s first medal at the 2nd Asian Youth Games (AYG) with a bronze in the girls’ 10m air rifle final in Nanjing, China.

Despite facing a 38-strong field of older and more experienced opponents, the Singapore Sports School student-athlete, who was the youngest competitor yesterday, overcame a nervous first series in the qualification round to finish fifth on 409.8 points (40 shots) and qualify for the finals.

The final showdown between the eight shooters at the Fangshan Shooting Hall proved to be a tense affair. While winners in the discipline were previously decided by cumulative scores, a rule change introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation this year saw shooters eliminated progressively after firing an initial series of shots, until only the top two were left.

With only three shooters remaining, Martina found herself missing out on the final two by a whisker after notching a total of 185.2 on her 18th shot, just 0.1 points shy of South Korean Kim Jehee (185.3).

The Singaporean eventually settled for bronze, with China’s He Zichao claiming gold in 205.3 ahead of Kim (203.9) in the final two-shot duel.

Team-mate Leona Yeo was placed second in the qualifiers on 413.4 points and eventually finished fifth in the final (142.3).

Despite narrowly missing out on a silver, Martina was still delighted to win Singapore’s first AYG medal.

“There was no pressure for me because the rest of the girls were 16 or 17 and they have a lot more experience,” she said in a phone interview from Nanjing yesterday. “I wasn’t really disappointed not to win silver because I know I did my best. I’m surprised to win a medal at my first major Games and win a first medal for my country.

“I’m hoping to get a quota place to compete at the Youth Olympic Games next year and I am working really hard on improving my shooting.”

Despite only picking up the sport in 2011, the teenager has notched up impressive performances.

In February, she re-wrote national shooter Jasmine Ser’s 399 record at the HomeTeamNS Invitation Shoot with a perfect 400 score in the women’s 10m air rifle. Five months later, she claimed the Under-21 gold at the International Junior Shooting Championships in Suhl, Germany.

Singapore Sports School coach Lim Chea Rong is confident that her young protege has a bright future. “She is the youngest in the competition and did well to get a bronze,” she said.

“She really put up a good fight and was just 0.1 away from winning a silver. Martina has only been training for 1.5 years and there is definitely room for improvement. She can only get better with more exposure to major competitions.”

Over at the badminton courts, Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min overcame quarter-final opponent Eleanor Christine Inlayo of the Philippines 21-14, 21-11 in the women’s singles yesterday. The 14-year-old will meet fourth-seeded Malaysian Ho Yen Mei in the semi-finals today.

Youth divers Jonathan Chan and Fong Kay Yian were also in action in the pool yesterday, with both placing sixth (253.00) and seventh (161.55) respectively in the men’s platform and women’s 3m springboard finals.

Team Singapore’s 84-member contingent are contesting in eight sports — aquatics (swimming, diving), athletics, badminton, fencing, football, judo, shooting and table tennis — at the AYG.

At the first AYG in Singapore four years ago, they reaped a total of nine gold, six silver and 16 bronze medals.

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.