‘Business as usual’ for Sibu archers — Coach

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Desmond Ho practices at his home.

SIBU: It’s work as usual for the members of Sibu Division Archery Association (Pemasa Sibu) despite the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought the world to a halt.

Pemasa Sibu secretary Eric Tiong said he had provided the athletes a comprehensive training programme which they can follow while training individually at home.

‘This is to ensure that my athletes remain in top shape and are ever ready to face the challenges when any competition starts once the Covid-19 health crisis change for a better,” he said.

Eric Tiong

Tiong, who doubled as Pemasa Sibu coach, said the programme include body weight strength training and the daily shooting practice, both indoor and outdoor.

“They will take videos of themselves doing the programme and then send it to me for verification,” he said, adding he was satisfied with the performance of his charges.

Tiong said the archers could not afford to be complacent as a day rest is equivalent to three-day lost in their shooting consistency.

“Shooting accuracy is a skill that needs constant practice, persistency and perseverance.

“It requires both the mental and physical strength which is difficult to maintain unless they are mentally prepared,” he added.

Tiong said it was very unfortunate that the outbreak of Covid-19 had forced large number of sporting events to be cancelled or postponed.

According to Tiong, Pemasa Sibu was planning to send their archers to three championships but the events were called off due to the pandemic.

The events were the Inter-State Schools Archery Championship from March 18 to 21, the UUM Open Archery Championship in Kedah from April 1 to 4 and the Sarawak Sukma Selection on April 6 to 8.

Tiong said the fate of other events scheduled for the second half of this year remains unclear.

Touching on Johor Sukma, Tiong said one of his top archers Desmond Ho Liang Hong has been putting in efforts to polish his shooting accuracy in preparation for the selection.

During the first Sarawak Sukma shadow team selection held in Miri late last year, Ho garnered the first position in all the four qualifying sets in Recurve Men category that were competed.

His other accolades include the champion in Sibu Inter-Schools U-18 Archery Championship held early this year and the gold medal in the 15th Sarawak Open Indoor Archery Championship in Kuching late last year.

Tiong said the 16-year-old student from SMK Tiong Hin is a revelation and he believes Ho has all the qualities to qualify for the Johor Sukma.

”Given proper exposure, Ho should be the archer to watch.”