Chattaya shoots down surprise bronze
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Chattaya Kitcharoen clinched another bronze medal for Thailand at the Asian Games yesterday, beating Kazakhstan's Anastassiya Davydova 1-0 in a shoot-off in the women's trap individual at the Geonggido Shooting Range.
The 24-year-old became the only Thai to reach the final when she shot a 68 in the preliminaries, before scoring 11 in the final to tie with the Kazakhi.
She and Davydova then engaged in a neck-and-neck battle for the bronze medal, with each hitting 10 targets. The Thai, who won a bronze in the women’s double trap team in 2010, finally clinched a medal by hitting the target in the shoot-off, while her rival missed.
“I was pretty excited during the shoot-off and was trying hard to stay focused. This bronze medal was beyond my expectations as I’ve just switched from skeet, which I always felt comfortable with, to trap. I think I have a better chance in the double trap, but here I am with a bronze medal,” said Chattaya.
Her bronze in 2010 was the first medal achieved by a Thai shooter in the Asian Games in 40 years, after Vutha Bhirombakdi won the men’s trap silver in Tehran in 1974.
A shoot-off was also required yesterday to decide the gold medal. China’s Zhu Jingyu edged Japan’s Yukie Nakayama 2-1 to take the gold medal after they were tied at 12.
In the team competition, Kazakhstan won the gold after firing a combined 203. China bagged the silver with 199 and North Korea took the bronze with 198. Thailand’s team of Thitithan Nongpromma and Nanpapas Viravaidya shot a combined total of 190 for sixth place.
In the men’s 10m air rifle, the Thais finished eighth on 1,843, with Singapore 11th with 1,838. China stole the show in the event firing 1,886, 19 points ahead of silver medallists South Korea. India, with 1,863, took bronze.
