Archers’ ache as Olympics qualification gets complicated
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s archery coach Lee Jae-hyung is keeping his fingers crossed that archers vying for Olympics qualification will get to participate in the Archery Asia Cup and World Cup meets in Bangkok and Paris next year.
The Korean coach said the current Covid-19 situation complicates the Olympics qualification as most tournaments have been called off.
“I don’t think we have any more competitions this year as we can’t go outside the country at the moment,” said Jae-hyung.
“The archers need competitions to gauge their form but it is a problem everyone is facing.
“The first competition we possibly can go to is the Archery Asia
Cup leg in Bangkok in March next year and that will be like a warmup test before the World Cup meet in Shanghai in May.
“We will skip the first leg of the World Cup in Guatemala in April because of the travel distance and opt for the Asia Cup which is closer to home.
“The World Cup second round in Shanghai (May 17-23) will be important as it will be used to select the three members to shoot in the Olympic Final Qualifying Tournament (FQT) in Paris from June 18-21.
“There is a chance to qualify for the men’s team event at the Olympics and this is the goal we are working on.
“The Olympics FQT will also be run alongside the World Cup third round in June and we should be taking part as well,” he added.
Khairul Anuar Mohd is the only archer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics so far.
Khairul confirmed his ticket to Tokyo after clinching the individual recurve silver medal at the World Archery Championships in Hertogenbosch, Holland, last year.
Haziq Kamaruddin, Mohd Akmal Nor Hasrin and Muhd Zarif Syahiir Zolkepeli will be tussling to join
Khairul in the team of three for Tokyo if Malaysia make the cut through the Olympic FQT in Paris.
The Tokyo Olympics FQT were initially slated for June 25-28 in Berlin but rescheduled to June 18-21 in Paris.
Malaysia have never failed to be part of the Olympic team competition, which is limited to just 12 nations, since Beijing 2008.
Khairul, Akmal and Zarif failed in their first bid for qualification after failing to finish among the top eight nations at the world meet in Holland last year.
With hosts Japan assured of a spot, there are three more berths left to be won through the FQT.
Qualifying for the team competition will also ensure a country gets the full representation of three archers in the individual event.