Malaysian men’s recurve team fall in the quarter-finals

PETALINGJAYA: Archer khairul anuar failed in his bid to bag a second-medal as the men’s recurve team failed to clear the quarter-finals at the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok yesterday.

A seven shot in the fourth saw the Malaysian men’s trio of Khairul, Cheng Chu Sian and Haziq Kamaruddin narrowly beaten 217218 by seventh seeds Japan.

Malaysia started the knockout rounds as the second seeds behind South Korea and cruised to the last eight with an easy 222-212 win over Singapore. Coach Lee Jae-hyung fielded Mohd Fareez Rosli in place of Khairul in the qualification rounds on Thursday and the team managed 1,989 to finish second best behind South Korea (2,001), led by Lee Chang-hwan, amember of the Beijing Olympic gold medal winning team.

Khairul, who joined the national elite team last year, did well to win a bronze medal in the individual discipline on Saturday.

Khairul, Chu Sian and Haziq helped Malaysia earn the maximum three quota spots for the London Olympics at the World Championships in Italy last year.

The women’s recurve team of Ng Sui Kim, Nurul Syafiqah Hashim and Shahira Abdul Halim also made the elimination rounds but did not clear their opening hurdle against Iran. The trio managed 202 against Iran’s 214.

Malaysia still had something to show on the last day of competition as the women’s compound team delivered the silver medal.

The trio of Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh, Nurhidayah Abdul Latip and Norhayati Al-madihah Hashim settled for silver after going down 217218 to Thailand in the final of the non-olympic discipline.

Malaysia, the top seeds, went straight to the semi-finals after getting a bye and crushed Hong Kong 225-211 to reach the final.

The men’s compound team of Shahrir Aizat Abdul Ghani, Ahmad Aliff Fadhullulah Alwi and Kurniadi Mukhtar lost 218-230 to India in the first round.