HANGZHOU: Windy conditions in the morning failed to disrupt the focus and target of national archer Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh to overcome her opponent and march into the next round at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games archery competition at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre here today.
The 32-year-old athlete, who is making her second appearance at the Asian Games, finished the women’s individual compound qualifying round in 27th position out of 51 competitors when she collected a total of 674 points after 72 arrows, far short of her national record of 704 points.
Speaking to the media, Fatin Nurfatehah said she struggled in the first set before finding her rhythm in the second set and hopes that her positive momentum will continue in the 1/16 elimination round tomorrow.
“For the first set, I was not satisfied because I lost my rhythm, then I was thankful that in the second set I managed to buck up and shoot as usual.
“For tomorrow in the mixed team and individual events, I hope to be able to shoot well and be as confident as I was in the second set today,” said the archer who made her Asian Games debut in 2018 Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia, five years ago.
Meanwhile, in the men’s individual recurve qualification round, Muhamad Zarif Syahir Zolkepeli collected a total of 642 points after 72 arrows to finish in 41st position out of a total of 84 athletes and advanced to the 1/32 elimination round tomorrow.
Meanwhile, experienced archer Khairul Anuar Mohamad who made his third appearance at the Asian Games since the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea, finished the competition in 42nd position after collecting 641 points.
Khairul Anuar has also made three appearances in the Olympics, namely the 2012 edition in London, United Kingdom, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
In the meantime, the national line-up of archers including Syaqiera Mashayikh will each continue their challenges in the women’s individual recurve qualification round and others in the men’s individual compound in the afternoon. – BERNAMA
