Missing South Koreans leave rivals in the dark

PETALING JAYA: The South Korean archery team will be keeping their rivals in the dark when they head to the Tokyo Olympics.

The Koreans, who have been dominant in the sport particularly at the Olympics since the 1980s, will not compete at any of the three stages of the World Cup due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The surprise decision was announced on worldarchery.sport where they will skip the upcoming stages in Guatemala, Lausanne and Paris.

Head coach Park Chae-soon indicated that the 14-day hotel quarantine for travellers entering South Korea was one of the reasons for their withdrawal.

Chae-soon added that it would mean the team could not train for two weeks upon their return from the events, which he finds unacceptable.

The Koreans have already secured a full six-archer quota at the 2019 World Archery Championships in Holland.

They are expected to hold an internal trial to select their team for Tokyo.

Malaysia are expected to take part in the final leg in Paris from June 22-27 as the archers, led by Khairul Anuar Mohamed (pic), will be in the French capital for the Olympic final qualifying tournament from June 18-21.

Khairul has earned his Tokyo ticket but will be trying to help the team qualify as well. Only three slots for team competitions are up for grabs in the world qualifiers. Khairul made the cut when he came in second at the world championships in Holland.