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KUALA LUMPUR: National archer Mohd Marbawi Sulaiman remains optimistic and confident of his chances in the Asian Grand Prix despite remaining idle from competitions after the Beijing Olympics last August. Marbawi together with Cheng Chu Sian and Wan Mohd Khalmizan Wan Abd Aziz are down to compete in the first leg of the GP in Bangkok from Feb 18-24. “Though I have not participated in any major competitions since Beijing, I am confident of my ability. I have continued training at the National Sports Complex,” he said. Marbawi added that he had been following the training programme prepared by national coach Lee Jae-hyung and it was aimed at keeping the performance of the archers at a top level even after the Olympics. “In fact our targets and scores have improved and are more consistent of late,” he said. Marbawi added that intensive training would resume after the Bangkok competition to prepare for the World Championships in Ulsan in September. He also said that the annou...

KEBANGKITAN pemanah remaja cetus harapan besar negara untuk raih pingat pada Olimpik London 2012. Tambah pengalaman persiapan hadapi Sukan Olimpik 2012 di London PEMANAH muda negara yang akan menyertai Festival Olimpik Remaja Australia di Sydney Januari depan, akan turut dihantar bersaing di Kejohanan Remaja Dunia di Ogden, Utah, Amerika Syarikat, pada Julai 2009. Pengurus Sukan Memanah Cawangan Pelapis di Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN), Mohd Nor Ezuan Mohd Ariffin, berkata kedua-dua kejohanan itu penting bagi memastikan skuad negara mempunyai cukup persediaan menjelang Sukan Olimpik London 2012. "Kedua-dua kejohanan itu juga penting kerana menjadi landasan untuk melayakkan pemanah negara ke Sukan Olimpik Remaja di Singapura 2010 nanti," katanya. Enam pemanah yang dikenal pasti untuk misi ke Sydney adalah antara 12 pemanah pelapis kebangsaan yang kini menjalani latihan pusat di MSN Bukit Jalil. Mereka ialah Mohd Faiz Farhan Abd Waha...

National archer Wan Khalmizam Wan Abd Aziz. "We had our development plans in place even before the Beijing Olympics and are currently working on developing several archers for the London Olympics. We hope to use the next four years to continuously expose our archers to high-level competition with co-operation and funding from the National Sports Council. Besides the elite squad, there are two or three promising archers in the pelapis (second-liners) squad who are capable of moving up to elite level so we do not just have to rely on the three men who went to Beijing (Cheng Chu Sian, Marbawi Sulaiman and Wan Khalmizam Wan Abd Aziz). There is healthy competition among the elite, pelapis and back-up elite squads, and to keep them on their toes there is a promotion-relegation system in place. Those who perform can move up and likewise, anyone slacking will be demoted. Currently our men have been doing well but we would also like to ensure the women also qualify f...