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!