By : Teguh Imam Wibowo Cilodong, West Java, Sept 6 (ANTARA) - The atmosphere during the women's pistol match-4 meet in firing range of the Indonesian Army Strategic Reserve Command in Cilodong, West Java, on Sunday did not create tense among the participating athletes. A formal tournament is usually fully characterized by a sense of rivalries.

What came to view in the faces of athletes was a reflection of friendliness, nuance of relaxation and a burst of laughter and joys. The atmosphere was relexing though the shooters particiaping in the competition came from different countries with different backgrounds.

Women athletes were as if they were willing to show that they remained faminine though they had been trained toughly in a miltary style. Witnessing the friendliness fostered in the 150m pistol event, one would be reminded of the aim of the 14th ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet, which is to bolster solidarity spirit and cooperation among the ASEAN armies.

Members of Singapore's team, which was composed of young ladies under 25 years old, seemed to be most passinate and engaged with jokes with other contingents. Before starting the competition, they sang together in a circle formation to dispel tension.

The Singapore shooters did not do it alone, but asked other contingent members to join in singing and dancing to the tune of the Singapore military style.

The way the Singapore women soldiers staged the singing and dancing program was able to remedy the feeling of tense that shrouded other contingents before hand.

In the other hand, members of the Malaysian team also held a singing 'stage' in marching tune of their country. The Philippines and Thailand's contingents also mixed together in the 'waiting room' though their languages are alien with each other, but after which they had to fight with each other to show the superiority of their respective corps.

Here, English is the effective language to communicate, because their respective languages are quite different. This is of course a constraint for those who could not express themselves in English.

Contingent members from Vietnam for example, could not communicate smoothly because their command of English was relatively less supporting. "Our team members are relatively young, less than 20 years and they are not yet fluent in English," said Captain Nguyen Thi Ai Minh, a neutral officer of the Vietnamese contingent. He speaks English well.

The Prestigious Class The pistol match-4 event is actually the most prestigious class in the pistol events because the contestants in this event have to fight to show their respective high tempo and accuracy to dismantle the plate targets.

Each team fielded five shooters with one serving as a reserve. They can freely use any free position to shoot except the one where they are needed to use 'the face-down' position. They aimed their pistols to shoot the target at a range of 20 meters.

Before executing the firing, all athletes should stay at a position of 50 meters away from the target and then run towards the target and began to shoot as soon as they reach the line just 20 meters from the target.

Here, athletes need a mental and physical strength as well as speed and calmness in order that they would be able to point their pistols at the target and pull the pistol's triggers with high accuracy. In order to be able to compete in this event, women shooters admitted that they prepared themselves very seriously. They have to pass a tought selection.

"We trained for almost one year, and the Brunei Royal Land Forces, selected us. The best ones are sent here," said Major Hajah Wanshalimar, commander of the Brunie Army contingent.

Women shooters are indeed required to possess certain mental and physical strength. It is no surprise if women shooters in Cilodong show strong postures. Moreover, their bodies were wrapped in stripped clothes in the military style.

All contingents competing in Cilodong wished to show best achievements. That is why the firing comepetion last in a very tight atmosphere. Being left behind or overtaking others in point collections was therefore not something odd to see. In a number of events, a number of contingents happened to lodge protests because they were not satisfied with the way the points were counted or the way the tournament was conducted.

Protest Not Reducing Value of Solidarity Just like in other events, athletes in the match-4 meet also happened to lodge protests to their counterpart participants due to technical problems or due to the way the match was conducted.

When the Philippines shooters met with their Thai counterparts their margin of time in dismantling the target was quite small. This case also happened when Brunei's team faced its Vietnamese counterparts. Brunei logded a protest because when their athletes ran toward the line of shooting, they felt they were obstructed by the juries who were in charge of flanking the shooters.

But these protests and tense never last for long, and did not hamper the women athletes to continue fostering their friendliness and joys. Amidst the juries' attempt to decide the winners, the contenstants seemed to be indiferent. They prefered to sing and dance showing the flexibility of their bodies. The image that women soldiers are rigid, harsh and far from the faminine nature of civilian women did not come to view at all. Though they are loyal to be cled in sripped uniform, they did not forget to engage in a banter on laddies attributes such as accessories and cosmetics.

A number of contingents said they will buy in large number of clothings in Jakarta's shopping centres. "We have plan to shop in Mangga Dua shopping centre, dresses there were cheap people said," said Mashitah of the Malaysian contingent. The same tune was also voiced by the Vietnamese contingent. "But I did not know where the Mangga Dua Shopping Centre is," said Nguyen Thi Ai Mingh.

"Though I am an army and a seasoned shooter, I am also a mother of three. So, though shooting is a hard sport, I am also soft as a mother," said the Brunei number one shooter.

KJ07 (NN1/A/A014) 2.18.45
(T.A/A014/C/A014)