SEA Games: Archers surpass their targets to win S’pore’s first medal of Games

KUALA LUMPUR — They had already surpassed all expectations by beating two higher-ranked teams — Indonesia and the Philippines — to reach the final of the archery men’s team compound event, where they battled hosts Malaysia for the gold medal at the National Sports Centre in Bukit Jalil.

Unfortunately for Singapore archers Ang Han Teng, Alan Lee and Pang Toh Jin, homeground advantage ultimately proved decisive in Thursday (Aug 17) afternoon’s final, as they were beaten 222-228 by Malaysian trio Lee Kin Lip, Juwaidi Mazuki and Zulfadhli Ruslan.

While unable to take home the gold, the team’s runner-up finish meant they were still able to claim the honour of winning the country’s first medal — a silver — at this year’s SEA Games.

They also set a new personal best score in the event earlier in the day, with their 233 in their semi-final win over the Philippines who scored 227.

Their previous personal best score in the event was 231, which they recorded in January this year at the SEA Championships in Myanmar.

While they fell short in the final, Lee said that he and his team-mates were still proud of their achievement.

“I don’t think we’ve got any regrets because our overall performance was awesome, even though results didn’t go our way (in the final),” the 42-year-old explained. “We were only focused on doing the best we could because we trained hard for this…it was a dream come true, and we’re happy with how we did, which is what counts the most.”

As the event final was held at a different field from the quarter-finals and semis, Lee believes Malaysia’s ability to adapt quickly to the different conditions was a key factor.

“The different environmental conditions affect how the arrow goes ... the wind plays a huge part and everyone needed to compensate for that,” said Lee. But they (Malaysia) managed to compensate earlier than us.

“We have a limited number of arrows to get our shots in after all. They’ve been able to practise at this range many times, so they could adapt faster to the changes.”

Ang added that the format of the final — which sees the two teams take turns to fire six shots each as compared to earlier rounds where both teams shot concurrently — also meant that crowd support became a factor.

“When you shoot in this alternate format, it becomes more intense because then you know what the opponent is scoring as well,” said Ang.

“It also excites the crowd more, and they can then become a factor in how the team performs as well.

“We’ve worked very hard and made many sacrifices to prepare for the Games. We came here just wanting to do our best, and thankfully our result has surpassed all our expectations.”

This is the first medal that Singapore’s archers have won in this event at the biennial Games.

The Republic won two bronze medals in archery — in the men’s individual and team recurve events — at the previous Games on home soil.

In Thursday morning’s women’s team compound event, Singapore’s Christina Gunawan, Low Luan Eng and Madeleine Ong were knocked out in the quarter-finals after losing 211-226 to Vietnam.