Dejected trio lament what could have been
THE body language was telling on the archers after missing out on a chance to qualify for the medal rounds of the men's recurve team competition at the Olympic Green Archery Field on Monday.
Cheng Chu Sian was slumped and looked at the ground. Mohd Marbawi Sulaiman was rushing to pack his equipment and get out of the venue while Wan Khalmizam Wan Abdul Aziz showed little emotions as he sighed over what could have been a different story.
“It was probably our best chance to win a medal. I was happy with my scores but I felt my team-mates could have shot better,” he said after the 213-218 defeat by Italy in the quarter-finals.
As the youngest member of the at 22, Khalmizam has turned out to be the best performer thus far.
Khalmizam bettered his national record over the 70m distance by two points when he shot 674 in the team ranking round on Saturday. He managed a total of 75 out of a possible 80 in the team competition.
Khalmizam will start as the highest ranked Malaysian for the elimination rounds of the individual competition starting today. He is ranked fifth in the field of 64 archers while Chu Sian and Marbawi are ranked 26th and 27th respectively.
“I have never shot like this before. I hope to continue to do my best but it is going to be harder for us in the individual competition because you are actually fighting with yourself,” said Khalmizam, who admitted he was a bundle of nerves.
“I was shivering inside my body because this was our first experience competing in such environment,” added Khalmizam, who opens his campaign against Alexandru Bodnar of Romania.
Chu Sian squares off against Matthew Gray of Australia while Marbawi will be facing Chen Szu-yuan of Taiwan.
sources : The stars
Khalmizam perlu kikis rasa gementar
Cuma dia perlu mengikis rasa gementar dengan alasan kurang berpengalaman ketika dia akan memulakan penentuan memburu pingat selaku pemanah yang menduduki ranking kelima.
Dalam pusingan pertama, Wan Khalmizam akan berdepan Alexandru Bodnar dari Romania, Chen Chu Sian akan menentang pencabar dari Australia, Mathew Gray manakala Muhd Marbawi Sulaiman bakal bertemu Chen Szu Yuan dari Taiwan.
Khalmizam akur betapa dia sendiri terkejut dengan prestasinya di sini, memecahkan rekod kebangsaan apabila menduduki ranking kelima dengan catatan 674 mata dalam pertandingan suku akhir berpasukan semalam di mana Malaysia ditewaskan oleh Itali yang akhirnya meraih pingat perak.
Bergandingan dengan Chu Sian dan Marbawi, pasukan itu buat pertama kalinya berjaya ke Olimpik dengan memecahkan rekod kebangsaan dengan catatan 1,993 dalam pertandingan ranking, mengatasi rekod 1,980 yang dicipta mereka tahun lepas.
“Saya tidak pernah melakukan catatan terbaik seperti ini. Saya berharap dapat terus melakukan yang terbaik dan sasaran saya esok ialah 110,” kata pelajar komunikasi massa Universiti Putra Malaysia berusia 21 tahun itu yang mula menceburi sukan itu enam tahun lepas.
sources : Berita Harian
