This is an old sports article. Coincidently written just a month or two before I left the whole official journalism business... Or was made to leave because of the whole office politicis...
Oh well, I did have some very fond memories at the New Straits Times. After all, I grew up and learned English reading the daily. It's just the whole political game of pandering to the powers-that-be is just too much....
Publication :
NST
Edition :
2*
Date :
28/08/2001
Page Number :
38
Headline :
Only cool heads count
Words :
657
Byline :
By Radzi Sapiee
Text :
TAKE a 50 cent coin and place it 10 metres away. Now, take aim with a pistol and try to shoot a hole in it. Tough? Maybe not for the national shooting team preparing for the Kuala Lumpur
Sea Games. For the national shooters who will compete at the Games next month, shooting a target that small is not a problem. The challenge is to hit it right at the centre and everyone who understands a bit of physics, know this is easier said then done.
The principle is every reaction carries an opposite reaction. In a gun, the force that shoots out a bullet is countered by a recoil which a shooter must absorb properly. Failure to do so will cause the the nozzle of the gun to move away from the intended line of fire and you'll be off target.
Now imagine the 50 cent coin divided into ten equally-spaced concentric circles. The smallest circle which in shooting contains the bulls-eye should have a diameter one-tenth of the original circle while its size is only one per cent of the whole coin. In the preliminary rounds of the 10-metre events like the air pistol and air rifle, one could shoot within that area for a perfect score of 10 but come the final, a 10-pointer shot is considered just good.
One must try for the dead centre where you can get a perfect point of 11 but even a 10.1 point shot, just slightly inside the smallest circle is considered excellent enough. Thus pressure plays a big part in shooting.
Breathing at the wrong moment, or a high heart-beat rate is a definite no-no. Pull the trigger at the wrong moment and the slight twitch caused by even the inner mechanism of the body is enough to put one off contention. Don't even try to shoot when your fingers are a little shaky.
Former world champion, Ukraine-born Irina Maharani said among the measures needed to be on target is to lower her heartbeat to about 54-per minutes or so. For the record, the heart-rate of a reasonably fit human when calm is 70.
Hameleay Abdul Mutalib, who won a gold at the South-East Asia Shooting Championships in Bangkok last month, relies more on getting the correct "rythm", to be in-sync with all body movements from breathing to heart-beat.
Other events which use the 25m or 50m ranges or clay shooting can afford bigger margins of error but the same principle still applies. One must be very still and relaxed to get the job done but since this is not always possible, one must be able to minimise all disturbances - at least for a
shot.
That is why National Shooting Association of Malaysia (NSAM) secretary Mej Jasni Shaari downplayed the results achieved at the SM Yong Trophy held at the Subang range last weekend, although it was the last national meet before the Games.
Before the SM Yong Trophy was held, Jasni predicted that the Games shooters will not break any records, nor show any significant improvement and he was right on target.
"What is more important is not to place the shooters under any kind of pressure," he said.
The 1998 Commonwealth Games air rifle champion Nurul Hudda Baharin was placed under the spotlight and she finished seventh in the event on Thursday against a field of local shooters while none of her Games team-mates made the top five.
Jasni, when asked to comment on Nurul's finish, said that the event is no longer on their Games medal target list although a few months back, Nurul was expected to deliver the gold.
Pressure will definitely decide the Games shooting medal tally at the end of the day. So the less pressure their shooters are under it, the more medals will come Malaysia's way. radzisapiee@nstp.com.my
(END)
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This blogspot is a medium to share my thoughts and adventures apart from promoting my books. Below are the books which have been written or authored and published by myself.
"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti".
ISBN 983-42031-0-1, Jun 2006
"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela Syiar yang Asal"
ISBN 983-42031-1-x, May 2007
"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?"
ISBN 978-983-42031-2-2, November 2007
It is interesting to note that while these books were written in Malay it has gained enough attention to merit being part of the collections of the American Library of Congress and National Library of Australia. Look here and here.
While the first three books were published by my own company, the fourth titled "Rumah Azan" was published in April 2009 by a company called Karnadya with the help of the Malaysian national literary body Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It features beautiful pictures along with stories behind selected mosques which could be related to the history of Islam and the Malays alongside the formation of the Malaysian nation. Look at the article A collaboration of old collegemates - the book "Rumah Azan".
My fifth book "Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and Malay Sultanates", an English translation and adaptation of the Malay book "Ahlul Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah SAW dan Kesultanan Melayu" authored by Hj Muzaffar Mohamad and Tun Suzana Othman was published early 2010. Look here... My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates... . For more information check out my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU.
Like my fourth book "Rumah Azan", the sixth book "Kereta Api Menuju Destinasi" is also a coffee-table book which is published by the company Karnadya with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the main Malay literary body in Malaysia). Coming out January 2011 it features pictures and stories on the adventure travelling by train to all of Peninsular Malaysia along with the interesting places which could be reached this way.
My seventh book "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" in turn is a coffee-table book which is written, editted, designed and has pictures taken by me. Coming out of the factory October 2011, this book which combines family history with history of places such as Singapura, Johor, Batu Pahat, Muar and in fact the history of the island of Java and England has been reviewed with me interviewed live in the program Selamat Pagi Malaysia at RTM1. Look at the article Siaran langsung ulasan buku "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" dan temu ramah di Selamat Pagi Malaysia. Some selected contents have been featured in Sneak peek "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah".
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The "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of novels could be obtained in e-book form. Enter http://www.e-sentral.com/, click general novel and go to page 4. You can also type the word "Aceh" at the search box. Or click straight Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.
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