National archery champion, Suresh Selvathamby’s dream of bringing back a gold medal was shattered at the Paralympic Games in as rain poured down on the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field and the 2019 world para archery champion lost 2-6 to Bato Tsydendorzhiev of the Russian Paralympic Committee.
Born and bred at Kedah, the athlete struggled in the first round, by losing 23-25, yet rebounded to win the second match 28-25, tying the score at 2-2. The 28-year-old athlete, who was chosen as a backup to win the gold medal, scored 579 points from 72 arrows, reaching an all – time his season’s best performance.
Suresh became the first Malaysian Para archer to win gold at the world championships, following his victory in the open individual recurve event at the 2019 edition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
He will remain a true champion in the hearts of many Malaysians!
Despite returning home empty-handed this time, we are still happy and proud of your achievements. There will undoubtedly be another opportunity for you. All great champions will have to through several battles, and winning or losing is merely a part of the process.
We look forward to cheering him on at future tournaments. Keep fighting!
