2017 Malaysia Cup 3

Round 3, the final outing...

We shot in round 1 and 2 and were ranked 9th and 17th after the points were tallied. This is expected to drop after the third round in Banting. Jeff, my shooting buddy and I had trained over the past couple of months to get used to our shot placements and grouping.
Coach Lau (recently certified) had come out of recluse to join us in Banting for the shoot.

And as usual...

Kampung tournaments will be kampung tournaments. This event is a non-sanctioned tournament in search of three top barebow archers to represent the country in the Thailand Princess Cup archery event in Bangkok. Come June, three men will compete against the best barebow archers from Thailand and Singapore.

Team Subang Barebow Archers in Banting

Jeff taking aim during the practise session

The Malaysia Cup is a joint effort by several archery clubs in Selangor and Perak. The main person is Sharani Ibrahim, a religious teacher who is also one the leading traditional archers in the country.
Sharani took it upon himself to organise a league system tournament where the finals will determine who represents the country in Thailand.
Since the first tournament in Simpang Pulai last year, the response has been promising. There are a rising number of barebow archers who are following the league.

A fun shoot...

Jeff and I treated the event as a fun shoot. Mostly to get used to tournament pressure. Shooting in a high-pressure situation helped us to maintain our composure and focus on scoring on the target face.
The target faces used in this tournament are printed on vinyl banners. I guess it's the organiser's way to save cost. 
Unlike the Bangi and Kota Baru barebow events, the target faces are stacked very close to each other. 
Event the target buds are smaller than those stipulated in sanctioned events.

The kampung target faces, an archer's nightmare...

Expect the unexpected...

I was assigned target face "C" and one of my main concern is the last ring on the target face. It's just too low and if you miss, the arrow will dive into the ground. So, my strategy was to place my shots high. Doesn't matter if I miss the ring, as long as the arrows are on the target bud.

 

Jeff taking his shot during the official round

Jeff, Wan Rohafizan and Coach Lau

After 30 arrows in round one, my scores were appalling. I managed to score 132 points. It was the worst shot since round 2 in Simpang Pulai.
In round 2, it was time to turn thing around. During the first few ends, I managed to gain a bit of points. My best ends were the last four before wrapping up round 2. I scored 180 points but the final tally is questionable. We submitted the scores to the kampung judges and I was 10 points short. In the final rankings after two rounds, I came in at 24th place. Jeff was ranked 39th while Coach Lau came in at 35th.
On the whole, I was pretty happy with my performance because the "C" target face is one my weakest shot placements.
In the months to come, I will work on my form, especially my release and follow-through.

Good memories and training...

All good things said and done, I don't think we managed to collect enough league points to make it into the top 20 ranking.
Sixteen archers from the barebow event from rounds 1, 2 and 3 will slug it out in University Teknologi Petronas on April 1. May the best man wins...