KUALA LUMPUR – It was a steep learning curve for the national women’s archers, with a mixture of results and emotions at the Paris Olympics yesterday.
On a day when Syaqiera Mashayikh scored a personal best of 663 points from 72 arrows to be placed 14th in the individual ranking round, her teammate and debutant Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi could only manage 633 points, placing 50th.
For the record, Syaqiera, making her second Olympic appearance, erased her previous mark of 649 points, while Ariana holds the national record of 669 points, which she shot at the Olympic Qualification tournament in Antalya, Turkey last month.
Another archer, Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil, finished in 60th position with 622 points.
Speaking to the media in Paris, Ariana said her body crumbled under the weight of the overwhelming pressure of competing at her maiden Games.
“I’m a little disappointed because the weather and wind were in our favour today, but my body condition was not the best.
“This has never happened to me, and I am a little surprised as well. It was probably the nerves that affected me.
“Regardless, this is a learning curve for me and I won’t allow this to affect my performance in the team and individual events after this. I will learn from this,” said Ariana, who will turn 19 tomorrow.
For the 1/32 elimination round next week (30 July), Syaqiera will face Moldova’s Mirca Alexandra, who finished the ranking round a place below Ariana with 631 points.
Meanwhile, Ariana will go up against Italy’s Chiara Rebagliati, who finished 15th with 663 points, on 31 July.
Nurul Azreena faces a tall order as she will go up against fifth-placed archer Elif Berra Gokkır of Turkey, who scored 671 points in the ranking round.
For the team event, the Malaysian trio finished 10th with a total of 1918 points. They will go up against seventh-ranked Indonesia (1960 points) on Sunday.
If the Malaysian archers can upset the form book, they will face China in the quarter-finals.
Separately, South Korea’s 21-year-old Lim Sihyeon topped the ranking round in style by smashing the Olympic and world records with her massive score of 694 points.
The South Korean’s score surpasses that of her compatriot Kang Chaeyoung, who shot 692 points at the 2019 World Championships in the Netherlands.
The previous Games record of 680 points was set by another Korean, An San, en route to winning the gold medal in Tokyo three years ago.
South Korea’s Nam Suhyeon (688) and China’s Yang Xiaolei (673) were ranked second and third respectively. – July 26, 2024