HANOI: The national archery squad’s wait for the gold medal at the 31st SEA Games here ended with a double delight.
The first gold came courtesy of Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki-Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh, who dominated the mixed team compound final at the Hanoi National Sports Training Centre here to score a narrow 151-150 win over Paul Marton Santos Dela Cruz-Jennifer Dy Chan of the Philippines.
Thailand’s Sirapop Chainak-Kanyavee Maneesombatkul took home the bronze medal.
Moments later, the national camp erupted with joy again as Olympian Mohd Juwaidi bagged his second gold medal when he triumphed in the men’s individual compound event at the biennial Games.
Mohd Juwaidi defeated Sirapop 147-142 in the final while another Malaysian, Alang Ariff Aqil Muhammad Ghazalli beat Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Day 146-143 to take home the bronze medal.
Earlier, Mohd Juwaidi, Alang Ariff and Wong Co Wan had to be contented with the silver medal in the men’s team event while the national women’s trio of Fatin Nurfatehah, Iman Aisyah Norazam dan P. Kayalvhily took home the team bronze medal.
The silver in the men’s team event meant Malaysia failed to defend the men’s team compound gold medal for the first time since the 2015 edition in Singapore.
The Indonesian trio of Prima Wardhana Winsu, Hendika Putra Pratama and Deki Hastian Adika were the ones who broke Malaysian hearts while bronze went to the Philippines, comprising Paul Marton Dela Cruz Santos, Florante Matan Flor and Andrei Johann Olaño Feliciano.
“Based on training, we actually had a big chance here (to win gold) but it just wasn’t meant to be. So, I am very proud of the team although they are juniors. I hope they will do much better next time,” said Mohd Juwaidi.
He also refused to view the silver medal as a defeat but, instead described it as a test for them to work on their flaws.
“If we look at our scores in the final of the previous SEA Games, we did better this time and, usually, with such a score, we should have won but luck was not on our side. So, this is a good lesson for them (the juniors) on their debut,” he said.
Meanwhile, a tearful Alang Ariff, who had to be consoled by teammates following the heartbreaking loss, apologised to everyone for failing to help the team bag the gold medal.
For the record, at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, Malaysia failed to win any medals in the mixed team and men’s individual events.
With archery ending on Thursday, the national archery squad will return home with an overall haul of two golds, two silvers and five bronzes after having collected one silver and three bronzes in the recurve competition.
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