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Published on August 4, 2007

The men's standard pistol and the women's 50m rifle prone are the two events the local shooters will focus on as 22 gold medals will be up for grabs in 11 events.

Prakarn Karadee, Noppadol Sutthiwiratch and Pongpol Kunlachairattana, who are training under the watchful eye of ex-national shooter Peera Piromratana and South Korean Hwang In-kwon, are touted as the gold medal prospects.

"Their scores have been very close in the training and they are getting better and better. I've compared their records with the results from the previous Games and found that they are good enough to win,'' said Peera, a former Asian Games gold medallist in 1986.

Sasithorn Hongprasert, Kusuma Taweesri and Paramaporn Ponglaokham, who won the gold medal at the Asian Games last year, make a formidable line-up in the women's 50 rifle. If she is able to summon up the same performance she displayed at Doha last December, Paramaporn has a good chance of winning a gold medal.

Although most competitions will take place indoors, Peera is concerned about the tropical deluge that may play havoc in events that are competed outdoors.

"The weather will play a part in our shooters' performance. They will lose concentration under rain. That's what I am really worried about,'' Peera said.

Past experience says that local shooters get the jitters on competition days. No matter what the results are during practice sessions, statistics tell a different story during competitions.

"The pressure is not there during training but it strikes our athletes during real competitions. Expectations from the audiences and media criticism affect their minds,'' explained the Thai coach.

"I can feel the nervousness in them as the tournament is approaching. My job is to calm them down and make them feel the same just as in training."

Peera feels China, South Korea and Eastern European countries will make the championships a highly competitive one.

South Korea, for example, are bringing some of their most talented shooters, who are at the pre-graduate level.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation