Khairul Anuar Mohamad won bronze at the London Archery Classic on Monday.
Khairul was denied a place in the final by Brady Ellison, the American who beat him in the Shanghai final before going on to claim gold with a 6-2 win over world record holder Im Dong Hyun of South Korea in the final.
Ellison also knocked out Haziq Kamaruddin, another national team rookie, 6-2 in the quarter-finals after the Malaysian missed the target completely with his opening arrow to ruin his chances of an upset.
Dong Hyun accounted for National No 1 Cheng Chu Sian 6-2 in the third round but the encouraging performances of the national trio augurs well when the Olympics roll around next July and August.
The national archers head for the Asian Championships in Teheran next week where they will surely be in contention for individual and team honours.
Although the National Archery Association of Malaysia has the liberty to pick any three archers for the Olympics, national coach Lee Jae Hyung appears settled on his choice of Chu Sian, Khairul and Haziq.
The trio earned Malaysia three Olympic quotas at this year's World Championships and have maintained their consistency in their subsequent outings in Shanghai and London.
Jae Hyung sees little reason to break up the successful team but the archers will be kept on their toes leading up the Olympics.
"The coach has not said who will be going to the Olympics. Anyone can be picked and if any of us lose form, we are in danger. We'll just have to keep performing and hope to earn our places in the team," said Haziq, 20, before the trio's departure for London last week.
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