KUALA LUMPUR – Despite her journey at the Paris Olympics coming to an end, national archer Syaqiera Mashayikh sees it as a valuable and positive experience, providing her with crucial insights and confidence for future major competitions.
Syaqiera narrowly lost 5-6 to Brazilian archer Ana Luiza Sliachticas Caetano in the 1/16 elimination round, becoming the fourth Malaysian athlete to end their campaign in Paris.
Despite her loss, Syaqiera made history for Malaysian archery by becoming the first female archer to advance to the second round at the Olympic Games.
Previously, Malaysia’s first female Olympic archer, Mon Redee Sut Txi, was defeated in the 1/32 round at Athens 2004. Eight years later, Nurul Syafiqah Hashim competed at London 2012 but was also eliminated early.
Earlier, the Johor-born athlete performed brilliantly, defeating Alexandra Mirca from Moldova in the 1/32 elimination round with a decisive 6-0 victory.
“Alhamdulillah, I am satisfied with my performance. I didn’t expect to do my best. I was surprised by my score because I expected to only achieve 6.40, which was just my training score. So, Alhamdulillah, I managed to do my best,” said the 24-year-old archer.
For Syaqiera, although her journey ends here, she sees the potential within herself and her two teammates, Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi and Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil, to achieve success in the future.
Therefore, she vows to use her experience in Paris as a talisman to bring home a medal from the Sea Games in Thailand next year.
For the record, Syaqiera won a bronze medal at the Hanoi Sea Games in 2021. However, in Cambodia 2023, the host nation did not include the recurve archery event.
This has only strengthened Syaqiera’s determination to bring home a medal from the biennial sports event.
“For me, this Olympics is also an experience for us, and we can see that our team actually has the potential to win in the future.
“Our main focus next year is the Sea Games. We need to work hard to win medals at the upcoming Sea Games,” she added.
The national archery team’s journey in Paris is far from over as Ariana and Azreen are set to compete tomorrow. Ariana will face Italian archer Chiara Rebagliati, while Azreen will take on Turkey’s Elif Berra Gokkır. – July 30, 2024