Akmal finds his mark to shoot way into the quarter-finals
PETALING JAYA: National archer Muhd Akmal Nor Hasrin’s career has gone from strength to strength since his unexpected inclusion in last year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
In July, the 22-year-old ended Khairul Anuar Mohamed’s six-year reign as the national No. 1 after impressing in two of the World Cup legs in June.
He reached the last 16 in Antalya, Turkey, before going one better in Salt Lake City, United States, a fortnight later.
And the world No. 25 is certainly living up to his status at the ongoing Asian Championships in Dhaka, Bangladesh – storming into the quarter-finals of the individual competition yesterday.
Akmal fought gallantly to beat Taiwan’s Luo Zheng-wei 6-4 (28-29, 30-29, 28-30, 29-27, 27-26) and returned to the range barely an hour later to thrash Kazakhstan’s Oibek Saidiyev 6-0 (27-25, 30-28, 28-26) in the last 16.
Akmal will now bid to emulate Khairul, who became Asian champion on his debut in 2011.
Up next is China’s Jin Tao.
If he advances, then his semi-final opponent would probably be South Korea’s Lee Seung-yeun, the 2013 world champion.
“I’m happy with my progress thus far, but I’m not thinking about winning yet,” said Akmal.
“It’s all about taking it one match at a time.”
Akmal will also hope to go far in the team event with Khairul and Haziq Kamaruddin. The trio will face Japan in the last eight today.
Khairul’s individual campaign ended in the last 16 after letting slip a two-set advantage to lose 4-6 (2928, 29-28, 26-29, 28-29) to 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics gold medallist Lee Woo-seok of South Korea.
Khairul had earlier struggled to claim a narrow win over Denchai Thepna of Thailand. He prevailed 10-9 in a one-arrow shootoff after the match ended 5-5 (26-29, 29-26, 27-27, 29-27, 27-28).