National Recurve Archers Miss Gold But There’s A Silver Lining 

From Nurul Izzati Mansor

MALANG (Indonesia), July 6 (Bernama) -- The national archery squad performed dismally in four recurve events to finish without any gold medals except silver on the last day of the 2024 ASEAN University Games (AUG) today.

In the final action that took place at the Universitas Negeri Malang (UNM) Stadium, the national recurve team that competed in the men’s individual, men’s and women’s team and mixed events were outclassed by the homesters.

But there was a silver lining to the flop compared with the previous outing at the 2022 AUG in Thailand where Malaysia pocketed three gold medals. This time they were outclassed by experienced archers who hit the bulls-eye for Indonesia’s golden finish.

The squad's coach Faiz Mokhtar Lopi said the hosts lined up experienced archers compared to Malaysia’s line-up of rookies who had no previous exposure on the international stage.

However, he was still proud of the grit shown by his archers because they outshone their performance in training.

“Indonesia were without doubt formidable in the finals, they lined up experienced archers compared to our 100 per cent university students, but our athletes shot better than during training, so I am still proud of them.

“Even though our athletes have never been out (on the global stage), our fighting spirit was commendable, with no problems in their technique,” he said as he drew comfort in the promise for the future after the dust settled in the final showdown here today.

The national recurve team comprised Muhammad Farhan Hakim A Rhyme (men’s individual) who was also in action for the men's team event, Muhammad Hafiyzul Hadi Haidi and Muhammad Haziq Khalil as well as the women's team of Nur Ain Ayumi Fozi, Nurul Izzah Mazlan and Nur Rafiqa Izzlyn Zaidi. Nur Rafiqa and Muhammad Farhan also competed in the mixed team event.

For the record, at the 2022 edition of the AUG in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, the national recurve squad successfully brought home three gold medals through the men’s individual events as well as the women’s and mixed team.

-- BERNAMA