IT took Malaysian archers until the fifth and final day of the compound competition to finally hit the bull’s-eye.
And what a relief it was for the national men’s compound team of Juwaidi Marzuki, Zulfadhli Ruslan and M. Khambeswaran when they beat Vietnam (Nguyen Van Day-Nguyen Tien Cuong-Thach Phi Hung) 224-216 for the only gold from a projected five.
If not for the trio, Malaysia, who won five gold at both the 2015 Singapore and 2017 KL Games, would have been labelled a total flop in the Philippines.
No wonder there was joy and relief written all over three-gold veteran Juwaidi’s face after the trio’s win over Vietnam.
“This will surely go down as the most difficult gold I’ve won in three editions. “There was so much pressure on us to deliver that even our blood pressure shot up!” said Juwaidi.
So, how come the national archers failed to meet the five-gold target?
“We took things easy while archers from the others trained with the aim of beating us at our own game. But here, they showed that they’ve caught up withMalaysia,” said Juwaidi.
Khambeswaran, meanwhile, could not wipe the smile off his face after the victory.
“Two years ago, I was a reserve. This time, I played a major role... so, the gold is really special for me,” said the 20-year-old.
Malaysia’s hopes for a second gold were dashed when Fatin Mat Salleh could only get silver after losing 146-141 to Thailand’s Kaewchomphu Kanoknapus in the women’s individual compound final.