PETALING JAYA: Another decent outing in today’s third leg in Antalya, Turkey, will most likely assure recurve archer Khairul Anuar Mohamad a spot in the World Cup Final in Lausanne in September.
The 22-year-old, who kicked off the season by reaching the last 16 in the opening leg Shanghai, bounced back to secure a fourth-spot finish in Medellin, Colombia, last month.
He now has 20 points to be placed sixth in the World Cup rankings, and that puts him in line for a second consecutive appearance in the eight-man Final. He made his Final debut in Paris last year.
Malaysia, however, are struggling in the team event. The Malaysians are placed 11th in the world rankings following a series of uninspiring performance.
Four-time finalists Malaysia were even beaten by unheralded Canada in the opening leg in Medellin.
Khairul and Co will be desperate to right the wrong as there is not much time left before the Incheon Asian Games in September. The team have been targeted to return with a medal.
Coach Lee Jae-hyung is expected to retain the same line-up – Khairul, Atiq Bazil Bakri and Haziq Kamaruddin – for the remaining two legs, including Wroclaw, Poland, in August.
The Malaysian women’s recurve team – Farah Amalina Azhar, Nur Aliya Ghapar, Nur Afisa Abdul Halil and Sunantra Suchat – are also returning to compete in the third leg after skipping the round in Medellin, but they are not expected to go far.
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