PARIS, Aug 10 (Bernama) -- Junior archer Arlia Nur Falisha Mohamad Zairi wants to harness the Olympic aura to achieve success at the upcoming 2024 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in Sarawak from Aug 17 to 24.
Arlia Nur Falisha, 16, who is set to represent the Federal Territories at SUKMA, travelled all the way to Paris with her family to support her elder sister, national archer Ariana Nur Dania, 19, as she made her debut at the Olympic Games.
“I’m touched and proud of my sister as she had reached that level, to qualify for the Olympics. As a young athlete, I’m very excited and motivated for SUKMA after seeing the level of competition and the champions from all over the world here.
“Seeing my sister compete has fired me up to be a better athlete so that I can represent Malaysia at the Olympics one day. The closest (for me) is SUKMA to assess my level,” she said when met by Bernama recently here.
The Form Four student of SMK Aminuddin Baki, Kuala Lumpur intends to improve her personal best of 308 points when she competes in the 70 metre (m) individual and team recurve events during SUKMA.
Proud parents, Mohamad Zairi Mohamad Yusof and Norashikin Mohd Kamal, who paid their own way to Invalides to support their daughter Ariana Nur Dania, shared that they were willing to spend to see their children achieve their dreams.
Father Mohamad Zairi said initially things were not so costly, but gradually got higher when they reached the next stage, with bows capable of exceeding RM20,000.
“Initially we bore the costs, but when (they) reached the SUKMA squad there was a little assistance from WiPERS and when Ariana got into the national junior programme, it was fully funded by the government.
“Alhamdulillah, we feel it’s worth it when she made us and all Malaysians proud by competing at the Olympics. So, my advice to parents, if children are interested in sports, support them, maybe start with cheaper equipment first, then upgrade later on,” he said.
Meanwhile, mother Norashikin said Ariana Nur Dania really inspired her sister to take up archery.
“That time we had three girls, Ariana wasn’t interested in watching Barbie or Cinderella, but was enamoured with Merida (from the Disney animation Brave) and said she wanted to try archery, so her father said, ok, let’s try.
“For Arlia, we didn’t force her… We brought her along when Ariana went for training, she said at the side of the field while her sister trained. Less than a year later, she started asking to try the sport. We do hope she does well in SUKMA,” she said.
In her Olympic debut in Paris, Ariana Nur Dania almost sprung an upset on 2022 world champion Chiara Rebagliati of Italy in the individual 1/32 elimination round before losing 5-6 in a shoot-off, while in the team event, she, along with Syaqiera Mashayikh and Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil lost 3-5 to the Indonesian team in the 1/8 elimination round.
-- BERNAMA
