Archer Khairul fired up to make a return to top form

KUALA LUMPUR: National recurve archer Khairul Anuar Mohamad (pic) is a man with a mission this year.

The 27-year-old is looking to regain his form that saw him reach a career high of world No. 3 back in 2013 to bolster his rankings and place himself among one of the top archers in the world once again.

Currently, he is ranked 16th in the world, thanks to an improved showing last year.

He finished fourth in the World Cup in Antalya, Turkey; ninth in the World Cup in Salt Lake City, the United States; and seventh at the Asian Games in Indonesia.

Khairul will get a chance to build on his ranking when he opens his campaign at the Asia Cup in Bangkok from March 24-31.

He will compete alongside Haziq Kamaruddin, Muhd Akmal Nor Hasrin and Muhd Zarif Syahiir Zolkepeli. The Asia meet is the national team’s first assignment in six months after the Asiad in August.

“I want to be consistent in the individual and team matches and improve in every tournament - that’s my goal,” said Khairul.

Khairul has an additional motivation to do well in Bangkok.

He wants to put the past behind him after suffering an early 0-6 third round defeat to Kazakhstan’s Ilfat Abdullin in the ranking round last year to finish fourth.

In the team event, the trio of Khairul, Haziq and Akmal finished sixth last year.

“I’ve made some changes and upgrade my equipment which I’m still trying to get adjusted to it,” said Khairul.

The team will get a warm-up when they take part in several simulation competition planned by national coach Lee Jaehyung.

“It’s good platform to test what we lack and need to improve. It’ll also help us to get the tournament feel again after staying put here for six months,” added Khairul.”