Fatin misses out on World Cup gold, clinches silver

Malaysian archer Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh secured a silver medal in the individual compound women's event at the fourth stage of the Archery World Cup in Madrid, Spain. This achievement marks her return to an individual finals podium after more than a decade, with her last appearance in a medal playoff being in 2015.

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For the individual event, my target was only to produce a score similar to what I do during training, and the rest I surrendered to Allah. I just focused on one arrow at a time.

Fatin, 33, had a less convincing start to the competition, finishing 35th in the qualifying round. However, she staged a remarkable comeback, demonstrating excellent performance throughout the elimination rounds to reach the final. Despite her strong showing, she narrowly missed out on the gold medal, losing 145-148 to Great Britain's Ella Gibson, who displayed consistent form in the decisive match.

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Alhamdulillah, that approach brought me into the top four before I managed to reach the final.

Reflecting on her performance, Fatin expressed satisfaction, noting that she focused on executing each shot as she would in training, leaving the rest to divine will. This approach helped her advance to the final stages. She acknowledged that her opponent was performing at a high level and was content with giving her best effort. The silver medal is particularly meaningful after her last individual medal contention in Shanghai in 2015, where she competed for bronze but lost.

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I am happy with this result because I know my opponent was performing at a very good level, and my job was just to give the best resistance. Overall, I am satisfied with my own performance.

Fatin views her success in Madrid as a testament to her patience and perseverance, especially after a less-than-ideal start in the qualifying rounds. Meanwhile, Malaysia's challenge in the mixed team event concluded earlier, with Fatin and her partner Juwaidi Mazuki narrowly losing 155-156 to a Turkish pair in the 1/12 round.

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The last time I competed in an individual medal playoff was in 2015 in Shanghai for the bronze, but I lost. After more than a decade, I finally managed to compete in the final again.