Let’s learn from the best
Khairul hopes Korean traini ing stint will give them the edg ge
NATIONAL recurve archer Khairul Anuar Mohd is hoping that 27-day training stint in South Korea will spur them to maintain Malaysia’s good record at the KL SEA Games from Aug 16-22.
The men’s team of Khairul, Haziq Kamaruddin, Muhd Akmal Nor Hasrin and Muhd Zarif Syahir Zolkepeli left for Ansan on July 8 hoping to add more depth to their preparation for the biennial regional Games.
The recurve team have contributed gold medals in every Games since the Vietnam edition in 2003.
Khairul has been one of the most successful archers – winning at least one gold in every Games since making his debut at in Palembang 2011. He hopes to be just as sharp in his fourth appearance.
“We hope that the South Korean stint will give us the edge at the KL Games,” said the 25-year-old.
“We’ll be training with one of the top archery clubs there. The club members are national archers and we’ll practise with them.
“The Korean archers are mentally strong. That’s something we hope to pick up from them,” he said.
The archers’ main target next month is to retain their supremacy in the SEA region.
“Our No. 1 target is to defend the team gold. We are all coming along fine.
“In the recent World Cup in the United States, we shot consistently. We didn’t get into unnecessary trou- ble despite the windy condi itions,” he said.
Malaysia bagged a bron nze in the third leg of the World Cu up in Salt Lake City for their best res sult in the World Cup series in four ye ears.
As for competing in th heir own backyard next month, Kha airul said: “For some, it can be stressfu ul, but not for me. It’s an honour to pe erform in front of our home supporte ers.
“Many external factors c can influence an archer. It can becomeome quite tense during competition but I’m used to it.
“I’ve taken part in the Olympics, World Cup and Asian tournaments. For the SEA Games, I’ll just keep it simple and stay composed against strong opponents from Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand.”
National head coach Lee Jaehyung can also finally afford a smile after being worried for months when Malaysia began the season at the world No. 19.
“We moved to No. 15 after the first World Cup in China. We were No. 14 after the Turkey outing and now, after the US assignment, we are No. 11,” said the Korean coach.
“That’s the progress I was looking for. We have set a one-gold target from recurve, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we get more.”
Archery could kick start Malaysia’s gold rush even before the Games’ opening ceremony. The compound archers will be in action on Aug 16 – three days before the start of the Games. The compound archers are expected to deliver three gold medals.