KUALA LUMPUR: Youngster Ahmad Fahmi Ammar Rahim is tipped to become the next top rifle shooter in the country after he fired an impressive personal best score en route to gold in the men's prone event at the Tun Hanif Trophy competition today.
The 19-year-old from Melaka, who was drafted into the national backup squad six months ago, shot a consistent series of 99, 99, 98, 97, 98, 99 for a 590 total at the National Shooting Range in Subang.
This bettered his previous personal best of 576 which he set at the Malaysia Games last September. The score also won him the gold in the junior category of the Tun Hanif competition.
Ahmad, who is currently undergoing a pre-university course at the Bukit Jalil Sports School, had also won bronze in the 10m air rifle event with the score of 250.4 yesterday.
National coach Zubair Mohammad said he was impressed with Ahmad's performance as he improved his personal best by a massive 14 points.
"For a long time we have not seen any rifle shooter hitting 590 points in prone events," said Zubair.
"Ahmad was only called up for the national backup squad a few months ago and he has made good progress. He is tipped to be the next top rifle shooter in the country.
"Ahmad made his international debut at the SEASA Championships in Bangkok last month and did really well to achieve a personal best score of 611 points in the 10m air rifle event.
"Although he finished seventh in the final, he has proven that he is on the right track to be a top rifle shooter in the country."
Zubair added that he expects Ahmad to compete at the South East Asia Shooting Association (SEASA) Championships in Taiwan (November) and further down the road at the 2025 Thailand Sea Games.
Shooting will not be included at the upcoming Cambodia Sea Games in May.