SINGAPORE – It was the first time they have paired up for a competition, but national archers Contessa Loh and Eer Jiang Ying were a winning combination as they captured the compound mixed team gold at the Asia Cup Stage 3 last Saturday.
They did so in dramatic fashion, defeating Malaysian Juwaidi Mazuki and Fatin Nurfatehah 156-154 in a nail-biting final at the Bukit Gombak Stadium.
The Republic’s last gold at the Asia Cup was in 2020, when Loh bagged the women’s individual compound title at the first leg in Bangkok.
She and Eer were visibly emotional after their victory. Eer, 26, said: “It felt surreal. After the match, Contessa came and hugged me, and we both teared up.”
Loh added: “When I knew he sealed the deal, I was really excited for us.”
The final saw the Malaysian pair, bronze medallists at the recent Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, in April, shoot first.
After four ends consisting a total of 16 arrows, they had posted a score of 154.
After Loh had completed her two shots (both nines) in the fourth end, Eer needed nine points for his final shot to win the gold. He hit a 10 for good measure.
Loh, 28, said: “We had full trust in each other and both of us were confident we would do our best.”
Eer described the win as a “miracle”, saying “we were the underdogs and it was an uphill battle”.
After all, they had qualified for the bracket stages as the seventh-best pairing among the 15 teams. They beat 10th seeds the Philippines 153-148 in the first round, then knocked out No. 2 seeds Iran 155-154 in the quarter-finals. The Iranians featured men’s individual compound champion Mohammadsaleh Palizban and Geesa Bybordy.
In the semi-final, Loh and Eer defeated 14th seeds Iraq 148-141.
Loh said: “We knew the level was high, so we focused more on doing our best shot and supporting each other throughout. We communicated and encouraged each other.”
Eer had words of motivation for his partner. He said: “Before every arrow that we shoot, we say certain things to each other. I tell her to take it nice and easy and have a good, nice shot. I want to remind her to just focus on what her technique is and she will do fine.”
The win was even sweeter for Loh, who was part of the women’s compound team that finished fourth hours before the mixed final. She, Madeleine Ong and Nur Syahidah Alim had claimed a bronze in that event at the Asia Cup first leg in Taiwan in March.
Stage 2 was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in May while Singapore was hosting one of the Asia Cup legs for the first time in 20 years. The stop here drew more than 200 participants from 22 teams.
Archery Association of Singapore vice-president Chiang Chai Liang was pleased with the turnout and said: “It gave local athletes a chance to compete in our backyard, and the weather was kind to us.”
