BEIJING, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- Disappointment was written all over the faces of the Malaysian archery trio which failed to advance to the Olympics men's team semifinal after losing by five points to Italy today in their Olympics debut.
What stood out in their 213-218 loss to the Italians was their lack of exposure in the highly-charged atmosphere of the Olympic Archery Field where the Olympic record was broken twice before the semifinals, said national coach Lee Jae Hyung.
"We had expected to go into the semifinals. The team event was our best bet. The individual championship is of a very high standard and, frankly, our chances are much slimmer and it will be an achievement if any of them make it to the last 16," said Lee, a Korean national, who has been coaching in Malaysia since 2001.
In the 24-arrow team knockout shoot divided into four bouts, Malaysia scored 54-55-51-54 while Italy had 54-55-55-54.
Cheng Chu Sian, normally the strongest of the trio, succumbed to nerves and shot a low 67 while Wan Khalmizam Abd Aziz posted 75 and Muhd Marbawi Sulaiman returned 71.
"He is normally the strongest but in Beijing, Wan Khalmizam was the best of the three," Lee said.
Wan Khalmizam, who broke his own national 72-arrow record during the rankings contest, said: "I think I shot well, my teammates could have done better."
Cheng and Wan Khalmizam are ranked 13th and 81st, respectively, in the world standings while Muhd Marbawi is in 100th spot.
"In the third end, I shot a six. It was too far to the right. So, I adjusted direction to the left but it was too much to the left and then I shot a seven. I was so nervous I didn't adjust well," Cheng said.
Malaysia had booked themselves into the last eight as one of the top four teams in the rankings contest and, this morning, they waited for the outcome of the Italy-Canada match.
"The Italians gained some advantage from having played one match but the main reason for our failure is experience. This is the team's first Olympics, the top teams here have archers who have been competing ever since the 1996 Atlanta Games," he said.
Lee remained optimistic of the team's future, saying it needed more experience of playing in high-level tournaments.
"Top teams take part in eight to 10 meets in a year. Malaysia does about four times at the most. That has to be changed," he said.
Poland set an Olympic record of 223 in beating Australia enroute to the quarterfinals where they were beaten by formidable South Korea who stretched the mark to 224.
The men's individual competition is scheduled for Wednesday.
-- BERNAMA
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