NATIONAL archer Syaqiera Mashayikh comes from a Felda settlement in Segamat, and her family and friends will stand proud when she competes in the Tokyo Olympics later this month.
The 21-year-old from Felda Medoi was introduced to archery by her elder brother, who later decided not to pursue the sport as a career.
Syaqiera must thank her lucky stars for qualifying for the Olympics as she has not even won a medal at the Malaysia Games.
When Syaqiera competes in Tokyo, she will become only the third Malaysian female archer to qualify for an Olympic Games after Mon Redee Sut Txi (2004 Athens) and Nurul Syafiqah Hashim (2012 London).
She will compete in the women's individual recurve and the mixed team (with Khairul Anuar Mohamad) events in Tokyo.
Syaqiera showed potential in archery at an early age and was later absorbed into the national junior team.
She was under the guidance of qualified coaches when she studied at four sports schools — Tunku Ismail Sports School (SSTMI), Malaysia Pahang Sports School, SMK Seri Titiwangsa and the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS).
Although she has yet to win a Malaysia Games medal, she showed her pedigree at the Olympic Games qualifiers and the Archery World Cup in Paris last month by recording 619 points in both events.
She was handed an Olympic spot after World Archery found that some of the 64 qualifiers did not meet the Minimum Qualifying Score (MQS) of 605 points in women's recurve for the Tokyo Games.
"It is every athlete's dream to known as an Olympian. And I will be known as one when I compete in Tokyo.
"Frankly, it is a dream to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. I never expected it so early in my career as I had only joined the national team last year," said the Universiti Putra Malaysia mass communication student.
"I had no pressure going into the Olympic qualifiers. I just did my best and earned an Olympic spot.
"In Tokyo, it will be the same as there will be no pressure on me to succeed. Maybe this will work to my advantage."
Syaqiera dedicated her success to her father, who has played a key role in her career.
"He has been my No 1 supporter since my school days. He is very proud of me, and I hope it will give me added motivation in Tokyo."
Syaqiera will use the experience in Tokyo to prepare for next year's Vietnam Sea Games and Hangzhou Asian Games.
"As I said, I have no pressure. The Olympics will be my third major international competition after the two Paris events.
"I will use the experience to improve my performance. In archery, anything can happen, and who knows, I could end up beating some of the top archers in Tokyo.
"Anyway, my main objective at the Olympics is to set a new personal best. I hope the Olympics will be a stepping stone for better things to come," she added.