KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — Archery athletes broke two national records on the second day of competition at the 18th Malaysia Games (Sukma) at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in Kota Samarahan, here.
The new records were set by Farah Amalina Azhar of Kedah in the women’s 30m recurve and M. Khambeswaran of Penang in the men’s 30m compound events.
In the women’s 30m recurve, Farah Amalina scored 350 points to rewrite the old record of 349 points by Nurul Shafiqah Hashim at the National Circuit Championships in Lumut in 2012.
The record today also erased the Sukma record by Ng Sui Kim at 341 points set at the Melaka Sukma in 2010.
“The competition here is very stiff. I was not targeting to create a new record. I only wanted to do the best,” said the 21-year-old archer from Kulim, Kedah.
Apart from winning the 30m event, Farah Amalina also won the 50m event and set a new games record after collecting 322 points to beat the old record of 317 points set by Shahira Abdul Halim of Johor at the Melaka Sukma in 2010.
After two days of action, the Singapore Sea Games bronze medalist also collected one silver and one bronze medal in the 70m and 60m events.
Meanwhile, Khambeswaran was elated after breaking the national record.
“On my coach’s guidance, I was confident of giving my best performance. I had shot 359 (equalling the national record) in a tournament in UUM (Universiti Utara Malaysia) so I felt I could do even better,” said the student from St. Xavier’s Institution, Penang.
He shot 360 points to break the eight-year-old national record set by Lang Hong Keong at the Asian Grand Prix.
For the record, the national record of 359 was also achieved by Khairul Fadly Jamaluddin in the National Circuit Championships in Sabah in 2011 and also by Khambeswaran himself in the Second National Archery Circuit and Kedah Open this year. — Bernama
