27 October 2011 - Athlete of the Week: Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD (MAS)

Athlete of the Week: Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD (MAS) Lausanne – 27 October 2011 IM Dong-Hyun (KOR), Brady ELLISON (USA) and K. A. MOHAMAD (MAS)    Anuar Khairul MOHAMAD made Malaysian archery history when he reached the recurve men's individual final at World Cup Stage 4 in Shanghai in September. This is the first medal for a Malaysian in an individual World Cup event. Before that, he helped Malaysia to qualify for the Olympics after finishing 1st in the team play-off competition at the World Championships in July. He then snatched third place at the London Archery Classic and two gold medals at the Asian Championships in Tehran in October.   After finishing 2nd in the team event of the European Grand Prix in Boe in May together with Muhammad Faveez ROSLI and Kisham FAUZI FAZLI, he then teamed up with 18-year old Haziq KAMARUDDIN and experienced Chu Sian CHENG at the World Archery Championships in Turin in July. Together they earned Malaysia a spot in the team event for the London Olympics next year after finishing 1st in the team play-off competition and 9th in the team event overall in Italy.   MOHAMAD then followed it up with a strong performance in the World Cup in Shanghai, beating several top archers before losing to the American Joe FANCHIN in the gold final. Competing in his first World Cup event and in just his third international tournament, he eclipsed the previous best result by a Malaysian archer when CHENG reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Shanghai two years ago.   At the beginning of the month, MOHAMAD equalled the national record to finish second in the recurve men's qualification of the London Archery Classic Olympic test event. He then defeated experienced Ukrainian Dmytro HRACHOV (UKR), a team bronze medallist in the 2004 Athens Olympic, to snatch third place (photo), thus emerging as an Olympic medal contender for next year.   In the Asian Championships that have just ended in Tehran, the archer from Malaysia took a well-deserved title in the individual event. Seeded No. 2 he survived two shoot-offs in 1/16  and 1/8 eliminations, but then showed true domination in his following matches to clinch the continental title. Two days before, MOHAMAD had already won the team gold medal together with CHENG and KAMARUDDIN beating China in the final.   His recent results are an amazing achievement for the 20-year old archer, who was only promoted to the elite squad this year and already has helped Malaysia earn three quota spots for the 2012 London Olympics!   Biography Extract:   Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD (MAS) – Born 22 September 1991   1st Individual Asian Archery Championships Tehran 2011 1st Team Asian Archery Championships Tehran 2011 4th Mixed Team Asian Archery Championships Tehran 2011 3rd Individual Olympic Test Event London 2011 8th Team Olympic Test Event London 2011 2nd Individual World Cup Stage Shanghai 2011 2nd Team World Cup Stage Shanghai 2011 17th Individual World Archery Championships Turin 2011 9th Team World Archery Championships Turin 2011 33rd Individual European Grand Prix Boe 2011 2nd Team European Grand Prix Boe 2011   Find more information on Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD (and all other archers) at the World Archery website.   World Archery Communication  
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