Shooter Haritz Iklil Delivers Malaysia's 50th Gold Despite Grieving Over Dad's Demise

From Ahmad Nazrin Syahmi Mohamad Arif

BANGKOK, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- It was a bittersweet moment for national shooter Haritz Iklil Hessly Hafiz when he clinched the gold medal in the men's individual 50-metre (m) Rifle 3 Positions event at the SEA Games Thailand 20205 here today.

His moment of joy was tinged with sadness following the passing of his father just two months ago.

Haritz Iklil, who admitted that "my father was always on my mind”, produced an outstanding performance to set a new Games record of 447.5 points at the Sports Authority of Thailand Shooting Range, erasing the previous Games mark of 445.3 points set by Thai shooter Napis Tortungpanich in the 2021 Vietnam edition.

Singapore's Marat Lleyton P Veloso (446.6 points) and Indonesia's Fathur Gustafian (437.3 points) settled for silver and bronze, respectively, today.

"In my head, from start to finish, I kept thinking of my father, who was supposed to be here, but it just wasn't meant to be,” Haritz Iklil told reporters after his golden feat.

According to him, his father died of a stroke two months ago while he was busy preparing for the biennial Games.

"So, here I am happy with the result, but sad that my dad is not here to share this moment with me… it's more of sadness, actually,” said the 25-year-old after delivering the national contingent's 50th gold medal at this edition of the Games.

Commenting on his Games record, Haritz Iklil admitted that he never expected it, as he was only focused on giving his best after failing to win any medals on his debut at the Vietnam SEA Games in 2021.

"That (Games record) is a bonus for me, I guess. I only wanted to do my best at the SEA Games here. This also happens to be my second SEA Games outing, and my first time winning a medal,” he said.

-- BERNAMA