KUALA LUMPUR – As far as national shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi is concerned, she is her own worst enemy.
The 38-year-old, who will be competing in her pet event – women’s individual 50-metre rifle three-position – at this month’s Tokyo Olympics, said this was because shooters have to “battle” with themselves as they seek to achieve consistency with every shot.
She admitted that she would need to super-focused during competition to avoid making unnecessary mistakes that could affect her final score.
“It’s more technical and tactical… when we fire we have to make sure nothing distracts us as we aim for the bullseye or 10 points.
“But if we score a nine or eight, then we will need to make up for it with our next shot. We must then blank out the things that affected us in the previous shot. That’s why it’s a battle within ourselves as we also must have a fighting spirit to not give up and to keep delivering the goods right until the end,” she told a virtual media conference today.
Like other athletes, Nur Suryani also has her own way of “prepping herself” before entering the battlefield.
“I recite Quranic verses to help me stay calm and focused,” said Nur Suryani, who will be appearing in her second Olympic Games, having caught the world’s attention by competing in the women’s 10m air rifle event at the 2012 edition in London when she was eight months pregnant.
Nur Suryani, who has not participated in any competitive outings since March last year, said she always avoided putting unnecessary pressure on herself, such as comparing her performances with that of her opponents, in preparation for Tokyo.
“I hope to improve on my ranking position from the 2012 Olympics this time,” she said, acknowledging that the most important thing right now was to focus on improving her performance so that she can give her best at the world’s biggest multi-sports Games.
Meanwhile, national shooting coach Mohd Yusri Jusoh said that Nur Suryani’s preparation is going smoothly and she has not faced any problems with the shooting equipment that will be used in Tokyo.
However, he is worried about how she will handle the high intensity of competition after more than a year of not participating in any competitive meets.
“The last time we participated in a tournament was in March last year in Subang. Since then, there has been no tournament. We were involved in online competitions but that was only once this year. The rest of the time we just train and carry out internal simulations,” he said.
Nur Suryani, who holds the national record for the women’s individual 50-metre rifle three-position with a score of 1170, qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after the National Shooting Association of Malaysia (NSAM) chose her for the wild card spot early last month.
The Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23-Aug 8.
