BANGKOK: At 35, Juwaidi Mazuki could be saying goodbye to the SEA Games - with two medals.
The question is: Will they both be golds? Juwaidi has booked his place in both the men’s individual and team finals at the Thailand Sports Authority Hockey Field after a marathon day of archery.
All elimination rounds up to the semi-finals were squeezed into a single session, but Juwaidi emerged unflustered, showing why experience counts.
“We finished all events in one day till the semi-finals and secured two finals, the men’s team and individual,” said Juwaidi.
Juwaidi was tested sternly in the quarter-finals in an all-Malaysian duel against rising shooter Aiman Syafiq. Locked at 147-147 after 15 arrows, the contest went to a countback, where Juwaidi’s superior 10+ proved decisive.
In the semi-finals, Juwaidi was commanding, brushing aside Indonesia’s Rinaldi Sostar 145–142 to seal his place in Thursday’s final where he will face one of Thailand’s duo, Kohkaew Sipakorn or Pattanapongkiat Peerawat.
Juwaidi was quick to shine the spotlight on Malaysia’s next generation especially Aiman.
“He’s a new star in the making, hopefully there’s more to come from him,” he said of the young shooter.
On the final, he said the Thais were young and driven to win.
“So I hope I can keep my standard high in the finals and deliver a good match against Thailand,” said Juwaidi, who already has an enviable SEA Games collection of seven golds, three silvers and one bronze since 2013.
He could finish with two more golds here on Thursday.
