2019 Perak Open

A recovery game...

Fresh out of the Thailand Princess Cup, we head up North of the Malaysian Peninsular to shoot at the Perak Open Archery Tournament. Barebow is competed at this event with a little addition. It's the organizer's house rules with 72 arrows in two rounds.
We thought it would be an awesome way to stay in the game and also meet some of the country's top Barebow archers at the shoot.
We set out early on a two-hour drive to Tapah where the event was held and managed to get a good spot to park our vehicle.
There, we set up for the qualifying round where 16 of the top Barebow archers will shoot at the 1/8 KO matches.

The Field of Play...

Chief Judge Johari Abu Bakar briefing the managers

Unlike most the kampung shoots that we regularly attend, this one adheres strictly to the World Archery ruling on archers' conduct, clothing etiquette and scoring.
There, I met Mr Ong, a welder from Kuantan who came in a pair of jeans. I told him the ruling and he changed into a pair of Khaki shorts. Mr Ong's hometown is in Teluk Intan and it was a last-minute do for him as he replaced an archer from the Pahang Barebow Archer's team who came in full force for the event.
At the qualifiers, we had to send 72 arrows downrange. For an 18-meter game, it's odd. But that was house rules and we just shot as we were told.

Event volunteers setting up the target butts...

Taking scores at the qualifying rounds...

The Usual Suspects...

We met Cikgu Suhari and his compatriots: "iceman" Syam and Cikgu Mat who came all the way from Kelantan at the shoot. As usual, they were the favourites. My lane mates were Cikgu Syam and Farid, an old friend from Malacca who took a long break from archery. Shooting alongside with Farid was a new guy who said he was honored to be in the same flight as the Thailand Princess Cup Barebow champion.
At the first round, I managed to shoot 249/360 and was ranked 19th. I actually had a miss with a bad release. This was also the first time I competed at a big event with my CD Archery WF25X riser. I must say that I was off-form and was plagued with a mixture of poor bow arm and release. 
Then, after a 15-minute break, came round two. This time, I managed to connect the shots and chalked 277/360 on the target face with an improved ranking at 8th place. The total score of 526/720 placed me at 9th place overall, while Michelle managed to take 12th place with an overall score of 514. Both of us made the cut and went on to the 1/8 match rounds. 

My flight with Syam "iceman", Farid and the new guy...

Michelle at a the qualifiers...

With sleep deprivation and a long drive, I wasn't mentally prepared for a KO match. I met Ustaz Omar, a regular Barebow shooter who is also a familiar face at the games. He took the game in a straight set. A clean win. 
Michelle, on the other hand, met Cikgu Mat from KEMMAS Five Arrows. This was the first time they met at an elimination match and the scores were toe-to-toe. They drew at the fifth-end and a shoot-off was called by the judge.
Both shot a "9" in the yellow and the line judge awarded the win to Michelle as her arrow landed very close to the "10" circle. From an archer's perspective, Cikgu Mat has come a long way since I last met him in Kemaman, Terengganu. His archery skills has improved tremendously. Next, was the quarter-finals where Michelle met "iceman" Syam. He took the game with a 6-2 win and went on to the semi-finals with Kholidin who came all the way from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Cikgu Suhairi, on the other hand, was in good form and met Kholidin the finals. The Barebow gold medal went to Indonesia to Kholidin who shot extremely well. We had a great time at the shoot and went to Sungkai to celebrate Michelle's getting her MoJo back with some beers and salted baked chicken in Sungkai...

Elmination match with the iceman...

Michelle got her MoJo back at this intense elimination round with Cikgu Mat

Southeast Asia's top Barebow archers: Iceman Syam and Kholidin the one armed Avenger...

Michelle receiving a certificate from a NAAM official at the Perak Open

The Barebow winners

Having a chilled one before hitting the road home... 

2019 Thailand Princess Cup Archery Tournament - Part 2

                     

Elimination day...

We had a silent understanding among each other. If any of us got bumped out, we will assume the role of coach and manager. This was split between me and Michelle. She spotted for Khoo, one of our top archers who made it to the 1/32 rounds.
I spoke to the organizers and managed to secure a media vest to capture the moments on my little mirrorless camera.
Unlike previous years, the Barebow folks had a day off before resuming to shoot at the KO rounds.
We took it easy, spent an afternoon at a range nearby and shot with the Kelantanese team.
On that fateful Sunday morning, two things were about to happen. First was our guy squaring-off with one of the top Indonesian barebow archers. Next, was history in the making...

A Thai archer consulting the line judge...

Team manager

Michelle, with Khoo at the equipment line...

Khun Pichet, one of the line judges, calling a score dispute

The KO rounds were fast and brutal. We saw the bottom 32 and top 32 archers slugging it out. The more experienced ones stayed on to the 1/16 rounds as the battle to survive continues. 
At the 1/32 rounds, we witnessed an incredible match between Malaysia's Norliana Sulaiman who ranked 3rd at the Women's class and Ang See Chuan, 2016 Princess Cup Barebow champion. They were neck-to-neck with Norliana leading the way until Ang caught up and drew at the fifth set.
A shoot-off was called and Ang wasn't that lucky. Meanwhile, our top shot Khoo lost to Hudzaifah Abdul Salam from Indonesia. 

Ang, squaring-off with Norliana at the 1/32 match rounds...

Our archer at the elimination rounds...

From competitors to spectators, team SBA at the match rounds...

The iceman cometh...

Throughout the tournament, one guy had bulldozed his way through 153 Barebow archers. He's a 34-year-old Science teacher from Pasir Mas, Kelantan. Moving in the shadow of Malaysia's top Barebow archer Suhairi Azha Ariffin, is Norhishyam "iceman" Ismail. Standing at six feet in height, he is as cool as a cucumber on the shooting line. Ranked 1st in the overall Barebow class. Cikgu Syam shot his way to the finals after beating his countryman Suhairi and top-seeded Thai archer Thammaluk Niamhom. Cikgu Syam met Kholidin, a one-armed archer from Indonesia at the finals.
Kholidin's story itself, is awe-inspiring. He lost his arm two years ago in an accident and recovered by shooting barebow. A compound bow archer by training, Kholidin is peerless in his home country in the Barebow class. For his effort, the Princess Cup organizers had presented him with a special award...
The Indonesians were the wild card entries and came prepared to take all top three spots.
One guy stood in their way and that was Cikgu Syam...

Norhishyam and Niamhom at the semi-finals...

There was a one-hour interval before the finals and that gave everyone enough time to rest and slug it out at the main event.

It was incredible to witness how far the Barebow class has progressed. In four years, Malaysia saw its archers shooting their way to the finals. Literally everyone had improved.

Norishyam "iceman" Ismail placing his shot at the final round...

The Malaysian challenge was answered by Cikgu Suhairi and Cikgu Syam. This year, Suhairi managed to shoot his way to the quarter-finals. A much better performance compared to previous years. The Thais, on the other hand, were denied of their hope of defending the Princess Cup that was won by Attapol Chareonpak in 2018. Infact, the Indonesians had stepped up the game by raising the bar in terms of scores. Most of their top Barebow archers made it to the elimination rounds.

Kholidin is an inspiration to a whole new generation of Barebow archers in the Southeast Asian region...

Eyewitness: creating history...

I stood next to an internet TV cameraman and recorded the finals on my little mirrorless camera. Moment by moment was captured as Cikgu Syam took the lead. Kholdin caught up, but didn't score enough points to break his opponent's lead.

As the last arrow landed on the target face in an alternate shooting rule at the finals, the Malaysian crowd cheered with a loud roar. What happened next was history. Cikgu Syam became the first Malaysian archer to win the 2019 Princess Cup Archery Tournament in the Barebow class...

Team KEMMAS and their champion

Throughout the finals, Cikgu Syam was calm and composed. He showed no emotions, continued to place his shots accurately till the final moment. It was a clean win by an awesome sportsman and archer. I can see the sigh of relief on his face as his fellow countrymen cheered. Friendly rivals from Malaysian teams who came for the event also joined-in to celebrate the win.

The iceman is Southeast Asia's top Barebow archer...

Kholidin (left) receiving a special award from Thailand Outdoor Archery Club President Thanaset Maneesombatkul (right)

Conclusion

This year's Princess Cup was very interesting. It saw a huge gathering of archers from all classes who came all the way from every corner of Southeast Asia.

For us, it was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends. As far as competing is concerned, this experience also taught us to work on our form and shot placement in order to stay in the game. We would like to thank Sunee Detchokul of Thailand Outdoor Archery Club and her team for putting up such an awesome tournament and look forward to the game next year!

2109 Thailand Princess Cup Archery Tournament - Part 1

Southeast Asia's largest gathering of Barebow archers...

There has been tremendous development in the region's Barebow scene as Thailand's Princess Cup archery tournament had recorded it's highest numbers in terms of participation in the Barebow class.
More than 150 people from all walks of life took part in the Barebow shoot and this year's event saw history as Malaysia's entry stood at the podium for the first time.
As for our team, we prepared for this by training regularly at our range and when the time came, we just hopped onto the airplane and headed straight out to Bangkok where the game was held...

Getting some arrows on the target butt in Archery Thai

Zeroing-in with my Spigarelli Club 650 barebow riser

Our game plan was to head in two days earlier, practise at a nearby archery range, attend the manager's meeting to collect our passes and listen to the new ruling on electronic scoring during the Barebow qualification rounds.
This year, it's a bit different. The organizers decided to do a full 18-meter round. We had to qualify with 60 arrows and the elimination rounds had been reduced to 1/32. Only 64 of the top archers will face-off on the last day of the event.

Tatrawee Harikul of TOAC gave the briefing during the manager's meeting

Registration...

Qualifying rounds...

Our day started very early on Friday, June 28. We made our way to the event hall, set up our gear and waited for equipment inspection. Michelle, my wife was a bit annoyed when she was told about her centre-serving. There as a loose thread which we managed to remove and her arrows are not properly marked. 
That aside, we waited till mid-day before warming-up and before we knew it, it was time to stand on the shooting line to qualify for last day.

Equipment inspection

The judge at work...

Qualifying rounds

The cadet-class archers

Getting our ass whooped...

It is fair to said that on being an old-timer, (my fourth outing at the Princess Cup) I maintained my game-play and worked on an average of 7.5 points per end. This is not even enough to make it to the mid-ranks as the archers became really good. 
There were wild cards in the fray and I must say that Indonesia's debut in the Thailand Princess Cup would get many more Barebow archers to compete at future tournaments held in Bangkok.
Michelle was ranked at 66th and I came in at 68th place out of 153 archers. 
In total, more than 100 archers had scored at least 200 points in the first round. The remaining 53 people had scored below 400 points in total making this one of the highest scoring class with team Five Arrow's Norhisyam Ismail shooting 272/300 and 262/300 totaling at 532 points after 60 arrows. 
The last guy in the top 64 came in at 446 points. We were just a couple of points shy of qualifying and this became our motivation to train even harder. 
There are a lot more games in the offing and we shall not take for granted on how good the Barebow archers from Malaysia has become...

(next: elimination rounds...)