DOUBLE RECURVE JOY

Men continue domination as women end 12-year wait for gold

STRENGTH in depth has allowed Malaysia to dominate the men’s recurve team event in the Sea Games after the national archers won a fourth consecutive gold medal in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

Malaysia also ended a 12-year wait to win the women’s recurve team gold medal as archery took their overall tally to five gold medals, surpassing their target by one.

Khairul Anuar Mohamad and Haziq Kamaruddin have featured in each of Malaysia’s team victories since 2011, forming the backbone of the gold medal-winning trio.

But the third member has always been different with Akmal Nor Hasrin following in the footsteps of Cheng Chu Sian (2011), Atiq Bazil Bakri (2013) and Ikram Joni (2015).

Haziq said strong team spirit and talent meant any change to the composition of the team did not affect their ability to deliver gold as they defeated Thailand 51 in the final yesterday.

“In every Sea Games since 2011 we have won the team gold medal even though archers come and go,” said Haziq, who was the individual runner-up in 2015.

“We always manage to pull together and win despite making changes to the team.”

For Akmal, his Sea Games debut is one he will cherish forever.

“This is a valuable experience for me as this is my first Sea Games,” said Akmal, who missed out on a medal in the individual event after finishing fourth.

The women’s trio of Nur Afisa Halil, Nur Aliya Ghapar and Nuramalia Haneesha Mazlan upset all the odds, first by eliminating defending champions Vietnam in the semi-finals and then beating a more-fancied Indonesia 5-1 in the final.

“We did not expect to win gold so this is a win for all Malaysians,” said Sea Games rookie Nuramalia with Nur Aliya adding: “Our target was just to reach the final but winning gold is a surprise.”

Malaysia last won the women’s team gold in 2005 but the intervening years had seen slim pickings with just a silver in 2007 and a bronze in 2015 to show.

The women’s team had shown their potential by reaching the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in Shanghai earlier this year.

Philippines won the bronze medals in both the men’s and women’s events with 6-0 victories over Vietnam in each playoff.

PIC BY OSMAN ADNAN (Clockwise from top left) Men’s trio Akmal Nor Hasrin, Haziq Kamaruddin, Khairul Anuar Mohamad and women’s trio Nuramalia Haneesha Mazlan, Nur Afisa Abdul Halil and Nur Aliya Ghapar celebrate after winning their respective recurve events yesterday.