By Lin Xinyi

THE first time she shot an air rifle two years ago, Goh Jia Yi missed the target completely.

Her following shots went all over the place, and she failed to stand out among the 200 Raffles Girls' Secondary School newcomers who were all keen to make shooting their Co-Curricular Activity.

She was overlooked for the second trial. But that was not enough to end her hopes of joining RGS' shooting club.

Desperate for another chance, Jia Yi appealed to the teacher-in-charge via e-mail. She got her wish, and went on to become one of 10 students selected to join the club.

'I just thought - with time, I could be good at this,' she recalled.

The straight-A student in science and mathematics could not have calculated the possibilities any better.

Come Wednesday, the 14-year-old Secondary 3 student will represent Singapore in the 10m girls' air rifle competition at the Asian Youth Games (AYG).

This, after recording a personal best score of 397, out of a possible 400, at the Singapore Shooting Association's selection trials in March to secure one of two slots for that event.

Her formula for success? Sheer hard work. Although the self-confessed fiction-loving bookworm and Harry Potter fan would like to have magical powers that would allow her to hit the bull's-eye every time.

The national youth team shooter spends up to seven days a week training at the Safra Yishun Country Club Indoor Air Weapons Range.

Her housewife mum, Mabel Tan, 48, said of her only child: 'She's usually there after school every day. Sometimes I ask her, 'Can we skip? For just one day?' and she'd say, 'No, I need to train'.'

Jia Yi has clearly been bitten by the shooting bug. When she is not training or competing, she feels a sense of emptiness.

'If I had my way, I'd be shooting every day until I'm tired,' she said as she broke into yet another big smile. 'It's not a chore. I enjoy it just like I would if I'm reading a book or watching a movie.'

Asked what she loves about the sport, she said: 'The focus and the mental strength that's required. And the feeling of knowing what is needed to hit the target centre, and then executing it.'

In primary school, she was in the gifted educated programme, the science club and the choir.

She also played the violin - till she realised she preferred the sound of gunshots to the music of Beethoven or Schubert.

Perhaps the only hint of a potential passion for shooting came from the joy she experienced the first time she played with a toy gun.

'I was in kindergarten then,' she recalled. 'It was fun firing styrofoam pellets - shooting everything in view. I felt carefree. But now, shooting is serious stuff.'

Her coach Spencer Tan knows just how seriously she takes it. The youth development coach (air rifle) has coached Jia Yi for only eight months, but she has already made a big impression.

'She's hard-working and motivated, and very mature for her age. She handles the mental aspect of the sport well,' he said. 'Definitely one for the future.'

While she is fully focused inside the shooting range, Jia Yi is just like any other fun-loving teenager once she steps out of it.

Teammate Jodie Tan, 17, said: 'After five minutes, she gets restless. She loves to joke.'

Jia Yi and her teammates recently bought a stuffed toy for coach Tan, who turns 28 on July 11, and named it 'Marks', with the popular department store in mind.

'They are a very fun bunch,' said Tan of the eight-member Singapore AYG squad. 'That gift was nice. But for sure, a medal would be the perfect present.'

Jia Yi would be happy to oblige.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.