Penang archers equal national record for gold medal

SERI ISKANDAR: The Penang state flag is finally flown on the last day of archery competition yesterday when the state squad won the men’s team Olympic round compound at the 19th Malaysia Games (Sukma).

The trio of M. Khambeswaran, Muhamad Faris Jamaludin and Syed Imran Syed Ibrahim also equalled the national record of 234 points set by national archers, Zulfadhli Ruslan, Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki and Ahmad Syafiq Azim at the Asian University Games in Singapore in 2016.

The three archers also broke the Sukma record of 288 points created by Selangor’s Nik Ahmad Danial Mohd Kamaro, Amirul Amin Abd Rahim and Hay Cheng Feng in Sarawak.

The Penang trio defeated Sabah’s in-form archers of Chin Shi Yi, Eugenius Lo Foh Soon and Mecedger Sage Edie, who scored 230 for the silver medal while Terengganu scooped the bronze medal after beating Sarawak, 229-227.

“We were so happy we shed tears as we managed to salvage the last gold medal for Penang apart from winning four silver and two bronze medals in archery for the state,” said 19-year-old Khambeswaran when met by Bernama at event venue at Universiti Tekonologi Petronas here yesterday.

In the women’s category, Sarawak’s compound squad defended their gold medal won in the 18th Sukma.

The combination of Amber Francisca Naja Edwin, Esther Yong Yin Ze and Kho Yee Ting took the gold when they defeated Kedah represented by Ezati Wardina Murdi, Fakhira Mat Said and Norsyakirah Mohd Rosli, 223-223 while the bronze medal went to Johor who beat Sabah, 218-212.

The archery event which came to a close today, saw Pahang dominating the sport with five gold, followed by Perak, and Sabah with four gold each, Sarawak (three gold) and Terengganu (two gold).

Meanwhile Penang, Melaka, Selangor, Kedah and Perlis won a gold medal each in archery which offered 23 gold medals in Perak Sukma.