KUALA LUMPUR – As preparation for next year’s Paris Olympics, the National Shooting Association (NSA) will be sending national shooter Johnathan Wong to smaller open competitions in Europe for his target practice.
“Our focus for Johnathan is to give him maximum exposure by competing in tournament finals, as it would help him prepare for the Olympics.
“We are sending him to smaller competitions in Europe because we want him to have an easier path into the finals.
“Overall, we plan to send him to five or six competitions until Paris 2024.
“For starters, we will send him to Denmark in January for three tournaments,” executive secretary of the NSA, Hayati Shamsuri, said when met after an NSA-NSC working committee meeting.
The association is also planning to head to Paris early, before the Olympic Games start.
“We plan to train in Paris early, but we have to seek approval from the organisers first because there will be many countries that will also want to train there early.
“We don’t mind if we can’t train at the Olympic venue, but maybe in shooting galleries in the vicinity of the venue,” she said.
Hayati added that the Asian Rifle Pistol Championships in Jakarta from January 5 to 18 will be the last Asian Olympic qualifying event.
“We will send a total of 16 shooters to Jakarta, but I don’t have the full list yet.
“If they don’t make it in Jakarta, the last Olympic qualifying event will be in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in April.
“But it will be tough to send anyone there due to financial constraints,” she said. – December 13, 2023