KUALA LUMPUR — Six months ago, many were skeptical when national shooting coach Firdaus Abd Rahim boldly claimed that Jonathan Wong could secure Malaysia’s first-ever Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games.
While Jonathan fell short of fulfilling his coach’s prediction and Malaysia continues to wait for its historic gold, the national shooting squad should not be dismissed as mere participants within the country’s contingent.
The recognition of shooting as a medal prospect was further highlighted when Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh identified it, alongside nine other sports, as deserving of additional funding for talent development.
National Shooting Association of Malaysia (NSAM) secretary-general, Major (Rtd) Jasni Shaari, remains optimistic as he pointed out that nations like India and Kuwait, once seen as underdogs in shooting, have risen to clinch Olympic medals.
However, Jasni emphasised that the most critical factor for success lies in mental strength, an area where Malaysian shooters still need significant improvement.
Shooting has the potential to be a medal contributor for Malaysia, with the national squad consistently representing the country at nearly every Olympic Games. Since Malaysia’s debut at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, the shooting team has only been absent once, during the 1968 edition in Mexico.
“I think it’s a positive move from the Ministry. You need to understand, countries like India and Kuwait never expected shooting to be a medal contributor, let alone win gold at the Olympics.
“I believe the National Sports Council (NSC) has been very helpful, providing support in terms of training, exposure, competitions, and more. However, our athletes also need to work hard to earn medals, not just go through the motions. It’s not simply about attending training sessions and then going home,” said Jasni after attending the Working Committee Meeting with NSC at Bukit Jalil today.
“I believe we can also win medals at the Olympics, and it’s not impossible.
“In the shooting sport, many successes are attributed to mental preparation. Many of our shooters, when asked about their experiences at the Olympics, always mention feeling nervous, anxious, and unsettled.
“This is not due to a lack of training, because during training, they are able to score similar points to other Olympic-level shooters, around 580 points. However, during actual competitions, they are unable to replicate it.
“If you ask elite shooters, they have excellent mental preparation. In fact, before a competition, they already have the confidence and mindset to win. Unfortunately, this is something that is lacking in our athletes, and that’s where we need to focus.”
To address this issue, NSAM has requested the assistance of a psychologist to help strengthen the mental resilience of the national shooters.
Jasni pointed out that psychological support has long been a necessity for elite shooters worldwide and is a practice that has been implemented for years.
He also shared an insight from former World Champion shooter from Italy, the late Daniele Cioni, who revealed that he focused more on strengthening his mental toughness than on physical shooting practice when preparing for major tournaments.
“Cioni once told me that 95% of his preparation was mental, while all the daily physical training he went through accounted for only 5%.
“As part of our training program for next year, we have requested the National Sports Council (NSC) to provide psychological experts, alongside the involvement of two new coaches from South Korea, with the hope of further strengthening the mental resilience of our shooters,” he added.
For the record, Jasni, who served as the technical director for Kuwait’s shooting team for 11 years until 2022, witnessed the sport contribute medals for Kuwait at the Olympics.
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