A technical problem today shattered the chance of national elite shooter Eddy Chew from defending his bronze medal in the men's 50m free pistol on the first day of the shooting event at the 18th Malaysia Games (Sukma) today.

The Batu Pahat shooter could only manage the 17th place out of 23 participants with 491 points at the Sarawak Shooting Range.

For the record, Chew, 21, won the bronze in the 2014 games in Perlis.

"When the first round began, I found the barrel of my pistol loose. I tried to repair but it was too late.

"It was disappointing as I failed to assist the team to defend its gold medal in the team event, nonetheless I hope to redeem my fiasco in the 10m air pistol which is my favourite event," he told reporters when met after the event.

"The failure to win a medal was also due to the lack of training... I just returned after competing in the Asean University Games (AUG) in Singapore, recently.

"My performance peaked at AUG and now it has dipped slightly," said Chew who won a gold and silver in AUG.

Chew said he would be taking part in the 6th World University Shooting Championship (WUSC) in Poland in September and was targeting to get a podium position either in the 10m air pistol or 50m free pistol event.

The Universiti Malaya student was placed fourth in the 10m air pistol in the fifth edition of WUSC last year in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

- Bernama