National Para Archers In Pursuit Of World Ranking Points In Bangkok - Coach

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 (Bernama) -- The national para archery squad’s main mission will be to collect World ranking points and improve their performance when the 2025 season kicks off for the squad at the Asian Para Cup (World Ranking Championships) starting tomorrow in Bangkok, Thailand.

National para archery coach Marzuki Zakaria said only senior archers were selected to participate in the tournament in an effort to maintain the momentum of his charges.

The national squad comprise men's compound archers Wiro Julian and G. Daneshen, Nur Jannaton Abdul Jalil (women's compound) and Nurfaizal Hamzah (men's recurve), while 2019 men's recurve world champion S. Suresh is not competing in the tournament because his wife has just given birth.

"There are not many tournaments this year, so we don't want archers to lose their momentum and ranking if they take a long break without overseas competitions. High rankings can increase their confidence during competitions to some extent, although any archer can be on the podium at an international level.

"We want them to maintain the momentum, as well as improve their ranking and performance. I also want to see how far Wiro and Daneshen can go, if possible if they want to advance to the final," he said when contacted.

Based on the rankings posted on the World Archery website, Daneshen and Nur Jannaton are ranked 22nd and 23rd in the world respectively, while Suresh is ranked 17th.

Nurfaizal and Wiro were ranked 45th respectively in the men's recurve and compound categories.

Meanwhile, Marzuki said the national squad, which did not play in Bangkok, will be tested in the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) Open Championships in Lumut, Perak from Feb 7-13.

He said the five archers who are currently in the squad based on their performance at the Sarawak Para Games (Para Sukma) last September, have been given a target to at least bring home medals from the ASEAN Para Games (APG) in Thailand next January.

“One of the main conditions for them to be promoted to the main squad is the achievement of medals in the APG. Most of them are new athletes and winning medals at the APG is not easy, but we want them to challenge themselves to achieve the mission," he added.

-- BERNAMA