HE may well be a medal hope for Singapore in the Youth Olympics next year.

That is, if his current form is anything to go by.

Tan Ting Yew, 14, a West Spring Secondary School student, picked up shooting as a sport only two years ago.

But he was selected by the Singapore Shooting Association to represent the nation in the 10m air pistol event at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival 2009 in Sydney.

Ting Yew competed with three other shooters from Australia, Malaysia and Singapore in his event and took the gold medal.

He is now undergoing further national training to prepare for the Asian Youth Games here in July.

He hopes to do well enough to go on and compete in the inaugural Youth Olympics which Singapore will host next year.

Ting Yew, who picked up the sport in secondary school, is modest about his achievement.

When The New Paper caught up with him yesterday, the Secondary 3 schoolboy said: 'I don't think I have achieved a lot even after I won this medal.'

But he also has a lot of determination. 'To achieve more success will be good. I want to go for more competitions and gain more experience,' he said.

'I hope to be able to eventually participate in the Olympic Games in London 2012.'

Arcade games

After developing an interest in the sport, he honed his shooting skill in arcade games.

Shooting is not offered as a co-curricular activity (CCA) in primary schools here. His CCA at Greenridge Primary School was robotics.

When he enrolled in West Spring Secondary School, he discovered that he could apply his arcade skills on a real air pistol.

He represented his school in the 2007 National Inter-Schools Shooting Championship at the C Division level. He emerged as the champion and helped his team clinch the overall championship as well.

Ting Yew now captains his school shooting team.

His current success is a product of endless hours of hard training.

'I trained almost every day for three to four hours for the Youth Festival. When I was more energetic, I went on for six hours,' he said.

His teacher-in-charge, Mr Kelvin Poon, 37, believes that it is this dedication that will eventually make him a star.

'He's got what it takes to be a shooter. He is a very intelligent and hard-working boy, who is not only a good shooter but a good student as well,' Mr Poon said, beaming.

'He was even awarded an Edusave scholarship for topping his level last year.'

Mr Abdul Rahim, the school's shooting coach, said: 'Ting Yew is very good. He has a nice character and is very intelligent. He is performing very well, but his current performance must be maintained if he wants to achieve success in the future.'

The school is proud of Ting Yew.

Principal Seet Tiat Hee, said: 'I am very happy that we managed to identify and groom Ting Yew in air pistol shooting at a young age. He has brought glory to the nation.'

And for those aiming high in sports, Ting Yew has some advice.

'Plan your time wisely,' he said. 'Believe in yourself and stay positive and you can make it as well.'

- Sing Keng Loon, newsroom intern

Australian Youth Olympic Festival

THE fifth Australian Youth Olympic Festival was held from 14 to 18 Jan in Sydney.

There were 2,200 athletes and officials from 23 countries at the festival. The competition, for aspiring young athletes, involved 17 sports.

It serves as a prelude to bigger youth sports events like the Asian Youth Games in July this year and the Youth Olympic Games next year, which will be held in Singapore.

Singapore took part in the Australian festival twice previously, in 2003 and 2007.

This time, Singapore sent 13 athletes, 10 of them for shooting. The other three took part in equestrian events.

Tan Ting Yew was the only Singaporean to win a gold medal at this festival.

James Ow Cheston won a silver medal in the 10m air rifle event for men and Jian Huan Cheng won a bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event for women.

This article was first published in The New Paper on 24 Jan 2009.