Khairul puts 11 points on competition best to lead qualifying at Asia Cup

World championship silver medallist Khairul Anuar Mohamad is proving that success only breeds success.

The Malaysian archer scored 689 out of a possible 720 points to lead recurve men’s qualification at the third leg of the 2019 Asia Cup in the Philippines.

It‘s also 11 more points than Khairul had ever shot internationally before.

“Today, I feel like it was good shooting and I could follow my clicker tension until the last moment,” said Khairul.

“After my silver medal at the worlds, I wanted to try hard to get more consistent scores in competition and training. I’m working hard and focused on the Olympics.”

The 27-year-old had his best career result when he climbed the podium at the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships. He only lost to world number one Brady Ellison in a shoot-off in the gold medal match.

It was a performance that also qualified Malaysia its first quota place to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

China’s Zhang Xinyan was the top-seeded recurve woman at the Asia Cup leg on 681 points.

Malaysia’s Juwaidi Mazuki and Thailand’s Kanyavee Maneesombatkul were the top scorers over the compound 50-metre ranking round, with 705 and 692, respectively.

The third leg of the 2019 Asia Cup takes place on 8-15 September in Clark City, Philippines.