PETALING JAYA: The Beijing Olympic-bound recurve trio of Cheng Chu Sian, Mohd Marbawi Sulaiman and Wan Khalmizam Wan Abdul Aziz created history when they bagged the team silver medal in the third leg of the World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, on Saturday.
It was Malaysia's first-ever medal in the series.
More accolades: Mohd Marbawi, Chu Sian and Wan Khalmizam won the team silver at the World Cup in Turkey on Saturday. Chu Sian, Marbawi and Khalmizam began their campaign in the elimination rounds of the team event by knocking out Holland 212-208. And they held their nerves to earn a place in the semi-finals, beating China in a sudden-death shoot-out after both teams were tied on 209.
The trio beat Turkey 216-204 to assure themselves of a medal. In the final, they lost 215-218 to the second seeded Indian team of Champia Mangal Singh, Rahul Banerjee and Talukdar Jayanta.
The Indians made the final beating 2004 Athens Olympics silver medallists Taiwan 218-210. The Taiwanese settled for the bronze, beating Turkey 225-216 in the play-off.
While the Malaysians' route to the final was made easier after the first-round exit of world champions South Korea, their latest performance in Turkey will boost their confidence for their debut appearance in the Olympics in August.
The Malaysians were drawn in the same group as Im Dong-hyun, Park Kyung-mo and Lee Chang-hwan, who had set a new world record en route to finishing tops in the qualification rounds. But the Korean trio were stunned 210-216 by Germany.
Dong-hyun, who won the gold medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, restored Korean pride when he beat Brady Ellison of the United States 114-108 in the individual final.
Incidentally, Antalya was also the venue where Malaysia chalked up their previous best-ever finish. The same trio made it to the semi-finals with wins over Japan and India. But they lost to Russia and eventually settled for fourth place, losing to the Athens Olympic bronze medallists Ukraine in the play-off.
Chu Sian, Marbawi and Khalmizam have improved tremendously since then. Silver-medal efforts in the Olympic test event in Beijing and the Asian Championships in Xian last year saw them breaking into the top 10 of the team world rankings.
They are now at number six and their latest effort may lift them into the top five.
They still have the fourth leg of the World Cup in France from June 24-28 to look forward to and they will be joined by their female counterparts – S. Anbarasi, Nur Amirah Mohd and Irza Hanie Abu Samah, who will get the last chance to qualify for the Olympics.
The Star
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