Malaysia Sweep Three Of Four Gold Medals At Stake In Archery

PALEMBANG, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysian archers swept three of the four gold medals at stake in the 17th Asean University Games (AUG) in Palembang, Wednesday. The women's compound team, men's compound team, and women's Recurve team grabbed gold medals by defeating their opponents, who were all from host country, Indonesia. The trio of Norhayati Al-Madinah Hashim, Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh (right) and Saritha Chom Nong (left) were on target, beating Dellie Threesayadinda, Ervin Rulis, and Yuli Purnama Sari, 14-10 to win the women's Compound gold. The men's compound trio comprising Ahmad Aliff Fadhulullah Alwi, Ahmad Syafiq Azim Saeri and Lutfil Hadi Mohd Yusof recorded a narrow 12-11 win over fancied Indonesians Yoke Rizaldi Akbar, Catur Wuri Adi Nughoro and Suryono Ali to clinch the gold. In the women's team Recurve final, Azuanis Abdullah, Siti Nurul Asiah Mahmod and Shahira Abdul Halim easily defeated Titik Kusumawardani, Erwina Safitri and Yulia Anggraini 5-1 to claim the gold. The only gold medal that got away was the men's Recurve team gold as Haziq Kamaruddin, Muhammad Shaifuddin Mohd Kamro and Atiq Bazil Bakri had to settle for the silver after losing 2-5 to Indonesian trio Ega Salsabila, Muhammad Hanif Wijaya and Irivaldi Annanda Putera. Archery team manager Suhardi Abdullah said overall the archers had shown tremendous commitment to dominate the sport. "The men's compound team pulled off a shock win, we did not expect them to win but they still got the gold. However, the men's Recurve team were not so lucky and had to settle for silver. "But for the Recurve event, Indonesia fielded their elite archers, whereas we only had Haziq who had experience competing in championships of a higher level," he said.(photoBernama) -- BERNAMA