MALAYSIA’s challenge in archery at the 2024 Paris Olympics ended today after the last representative, Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil, was eliminated in the 1/32 elimination round of the women’s individual event.
The event at Invalides, which was postponed from yesterday due to bad weather, saw Nurul Azreena lose 0-6 to Elif Berra Gokkir from Turkiye.
The 20-year-old started the first set with a 27-29 loss, followed by nervousness in the next sets, losing 22-27 and 25-27.
Gokkir will next take on Mobina Fallah from Iran in the fight for the last 16 round.
“I am quite frustrated… Not satisfied with my shots. Inysa-Allah, I can do better in the future,“ she told Bernama.
Out of the three archers representing the country, only Syaqiera Mashayikh advanced to the second round (1/16 elimination), after defeating Alexandra Mirca from Moldova 6-0 in the 1/32 elimination round two days ago. However, she lost 5-6 to Ana Luiza Sliachticas Caetano from Brazil after a shoot-off.
Yesterday, young archer Ariana Nur Diana Mohamad Zairi, 19, gave a tough fight to 2022 world champion Chiara Rebagliati from Italy, before losing 5-6 through a shoot-off in another 1/32 elimination match.
In the women’s team event, the Malaysian trio lost 3-5 to Indonesia last Sunday.
Meanwhile, national archery squad technical director, Lee Jae Hyung said the performance of the country’s archers is still far behind the world’s best archers, in addition to lacking preparation for the world’s biggest sporting event.
“After this, we need to prepare properly, for two or three years, and keep going to tournaments to improve performance. They need to improve a lot, because all aspects such as skills, training, and tournament experience need to be enhanced.
“We have to prepare the team for the SEA Games in Thailand next year. From there, improve performance step by step to reach the Asian and Olympic levels,“ said the South Korean coach who is fluent in Bahasa Malaysia.
