From near-bottom to superb

It is a sport where minimal movement is part of the athletes' artistry, and muted emotions are essential for performance.

But at the North Dragon Shooting Range in Yangon on Saturday, Teo Shun Xie sent temperatures rising and kept those watching on the edge of their seats in the women's 10-metre air pistol event.

The Singaporean shooter mounted a stirring comeback in the final, going from second from bottom to winning a historic silver - the Republic's first-ever medal in the event.

Teo finished on 194.6 points, just one point behind Vietnam's gold medallist Nguyen Minh Chau. Another Vietnamese, Le Thi Hoang Ngoc, finished a distant third on 174.8.

"It was very exciting to watch - nail-biting," said team manager Jeanine Heng in a phone interview on Saturday. "(Teo) told me she was nervous, but she hung on all the way to win Singapore's first-ever medal in the event."

Along with Games' debutantes - sisters Teh Xiu Yi and Xiu Hong - Teo also won a bronze in the 10m air pistol team event.

The trio finished on 1,109 points, behind champions Vietnam (1,118) and silver medallists Malaysia (1,111).

"The performance is pleasing, showing that we can be competitive at this level, and that the systems that we've put in place to develop shooters is working," added Heng, who is looking forward to the 2015 Games in Singapore.

Over at the Zayar Thiri Indoor Stadium in Naypyidaw, Singapore's men's basketball team beat hosts Myanmar 89-52 to win a creditable bronze - the Republic's first medal since 1979, when the cagers also won a bronze.

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