Thailand’s hope to win a gold medal in skeet at this year’s Asian Games has been diminished by Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit’s decision to focus on getting a berth for the 2016 Olympics.
Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit.
The Asian Games will be held in Incheon, South Korea from Sept 19-Oct 4 and the ISSF World Championships, which is also an Olympic qualifying tournament, will take place in Spain from Sept 6-20.
While Sutiya, who came close to becoming the first Thai to win an Olympic medal in shooting at the 2008 Beijing Games where she finished fifth, will take part in both events, her priority will be the world championships.
The top-three finishers in each category at the world championships earn places at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The 27-year-old Sutiya admitted she was determined to focus on getting a ticket to the Olympics.
“In Incheon, I will try to do my best but my performance may depend on my fitness,” she said. “China have a lot of good shooters and they will not be affected by two tournaments being held at the same time.”
In the build-up to the ISSF World Championships, the Sa Kaeo native will participate in three World Cup events in Kazakhstan, Germany and China.
Skeet shooing is among Thailand’s top hopes at the Incheon Games where they target 17 gold medals.