KARACHI, May 31: Country’s ace marksman Irshad Ali has said after capturing silver at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games earlier this year he was eyeing to win gold at Asian and Olympic Games.

“I am improving my shooting skills under the guidance of Chinese coaches and it’s my aim to land gold in 50m fire pistol at Doha and Beijing,” he told Dawn Wednesday at the PN Shooting Range on the eve of team’s departure to China on two-month training trip.

Making comparison, the shooter said he set a new national mark with a score of 559 out of 600 in the national championship held at Islamabad while the Asian and Olympic target is 571 and 568.

Irshad, 39, said he has improved leaps and bound under Ukraine coach when he came to Pakistan in 2003-4 and now holds four national records in air pistol, centre fire pistol, standard pistol and free pistol.

In addition to the Melbourne feat, he had two bronze in the preceding 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games in centre firer pistol (individual and team), and a bronze at Kuala Lumpur Asian meet in 2004 under his belt.

As far as SAF Games are concerned, he won three silver and a bronze at Kathmandu in 1999 followed by five silver at Islamabad in 2004.

He also stands tall at the national level and had pocketed altogether 210 medals in his 14-year career.

Meanwhile, secretary, National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP), Khalid Javed, has called upon the shooters to take maximum benefit during their stay in China.

“It’s a hectic year as far as domestic and international events are concerned, and you have to prove your mettle,” he told members of the China bound team.

He regretted that except Irshad’s silver lining, performance of other shooters at Melbourne was below form.

The NRAP official said it took him almost a year to materialise the trip with Chinese counterparts besides arranging funds as it involves enormous amount of money.