(11-21 December 2008)
National shooters Muslifah Zulkifli and Shahera Rahim Raja, who are WOU students, represented Malaysia at the 14th Asean University Games in Kuala Lumpur.
The national shooting squad secured a total of 13 gold medals, the men nine and women four, thanks in part to the efforts of Shahera and Muslifah, aged 23, from Penang.
Shahera won two gold medals, for the women’s 50m rifle prone and 50 m three position team events. She delivered three silvers – for the 10m air rifle individual and team event, and the individual 50 m three position – to bring her personal medal tally to five.
SHAHERA – SHOOTING FOR GOLD.
Both girls were excited when they received news on 11 November about being selected to be part of the Malaysian contingent for the shooting competition.
SILVER MEDAL WINNER, MUSLIFAH.
“This is our first time taking part as students from WOU in the Asean-Uni Games. We hope to do the university and nation proud by winning medals and coming out in the top three for the air rifle event,” said Muslifah, prior to leaving for the competition.
Muslifah, who only focused on the 10m air rifle category helped the team win a silver and also obtained individual fourth placing.
The girls have just finished their first semester of Bachelor of Business in Management (Hons) programme after having enrolled at the Kuala Lumpur Regional Office in mid-2008.
Their routine comprises spending some 10 hours a day training for most days of the week as part of their stint at the National Sports Centre in Bukit Jalil. They find WOU’s flexible study mode allows them to pursue their dream of higher education without intruding into their shooting.
NATIONAL SHOOTERS (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT): MUSLIFAH, NURSURYANI MOHD TAIBI AND SHAHERA.
“We travel a lot for local and international tournaments. It’s kind of easy to separate our studies at WOU and our training. As long as we have a laptop, we can follow and keep up with our studies and assignments,” said Shahera.
Muslifah has been involved in the national shooting squad for three years, but her association with shooting extends to seven years. Shahera has been participating in national shooting events for two years now.
