VIENTIANE - With a dearth of talent in the men's 50m air pistol event - regarded as the most difficult of the air pistol disciplines - Singapore fielded just four marksmen in the event at the SEA Games.

on Monday, three of them - Gai Bin, Poh Lip Meng and Nigel Lim - combined to win the Republic its sixth gold medal in shooting.

They posted a combined score of 1,646 points to clinch the win, ahead of Vietnam (1,618) and Thailand (1,615).

Gai, 41, also took the individual silver with a score of 642.6.

Thailand's Kulchirattana Rongpol won gold (648.0), with Vietnam's Tuong Nguyen Manh settling for the bronze (641.3).

Singapore's shooters also have five silver and four bronzes, and head coach Deng Pei Ming hopes the better-than-expected performance will boost the rifle and pistol events' popularity at home.

"We've performed above expectations, considering Singapore is relatively new to the rifle and pistol events and not as experienced as Vietnam and Thailand," said Deng, a former coach with the Chinese national side.

"We've plans for bigger targets, like the Asian and Olympic Games, but we simply need to build a base for the pyramid.

"For example, we have just four shooters in the 50m air pistol ... We also need to move into the 25m and 50m events, and not just the 10m events, because like swimming and athletics, the number of events mean more medal chances.

"Hopefully we can build an integrated range, so that you can practise at the 25m range and 50m range within the same building."

Factors like the faraway location of the National Shooting Centre in Choa Chu Kang, and the less-than-adequate facilities there, and the work and school commitments of so many local shooters, restrict development in the sport. The Singapore Shooting Association (SSA) are proposing a new $35 million integrated range for their rifle and pistol training programmes.

Said Deng: "That would cut down the inconveniences we currently face and attract more to try it out. Fortunately, the schools are very encouraging and many students have tried it out as a Co-Curricular Activity."

There could have been a seventh gold in the men's individual final of the 50m air pistol event.

Poh, 40, and Gai were still in contention with two shots left, with their overall scores after eight shots at 626.3 and 626.1, respectively, with leader Kulchirattana at 628.8.

However, both flapped at their ninth and penultimate shot. Poh shot 5.2 while Gai, who was in second place, shot 7.3, effectively ending the contest as the Thai's final two shots were 10.0 and 9.2.

"I wanted to win very badly, but it made me anxious and hurried my shot," said Gai.

Overall, though, it was a job well done, especially after they also helped capture Singapore's first win in the men's 10m air pistol team event last Friday.

"We're a very close unit, in fact, we're all we have," said Poh, as the shooting team gets set for three more events over the final three days of competition at the Games.

"That's why we have chemistry. Disagreements, if any, are usually over things like technique and the best way to clean our weapons.

"Maybe, there is more for me to deal with, because Gai Bin is the outspoken, straight-talking one while Nigel is the quiet one, and I'm in the middle keeping us together!" - TODAY