All smiles: (From left) Joey Tan, Ariana Nur Diana Zairi and Ku Nurin Afiqah Ku Ruzaini claimed bronze for Malaysia in the women's recurve team event at the Asian Championships in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
PETALING JAYA: Teenagers Joey Tan, Ku Nurin Afiqah Ku Ruzaini and Ariana Nur Diana Zairi have given Malaysian archery a timely boost ahead of the Thailand SEA Games after bagging a bronze medal at the Asian Championships in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
It was a dream debut for the young trio, who put up a solid performance to defeat Uzbekistan in the women’s team recurve bronze-medal playoff on Tuesday (Nov 12).
Determined to bounce back after their earlier semi-final loss to powerhouse South Korea, Joey (18), Nurin (19) and Ariana (20) were in top form as they swept aside Ziyodakhon Abdusattorova, Nilufar Hamroeva and Jasmina Nurmanova 6-0 in a commanding display.
The Malaysians had reached the semi-finals after trouncing Vietnam 6-0 in the quarter-finals before going down 2-6 to the Koreans.
Adding to their impressive run, the trio also surpassed the Asian Under-21 record during qualification, finishing fourth with a combined score of 1,943 - eclipsing the previous mark of 1,912.
South Korea topped the qualifiers with 2,020 points, followed by India (1,964) and Taiwan (1,954).
