KUALA LUMPUR: The national archery squad are aiming for two more qualification slots to the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, at the last-gasp qualification tournament -- the 8th Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament from March 2-7 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

National archery head coach Marzuki Zakaria said hopes are placed on 2020 Tokyo Paralympians Wiro Julin, G. Daneshen (both men’s compound) and Nurfaizal Hamzah (men’s recurve).

So far, the 2019 para archery world champion S. Suresh and the Malaysian Para Games (Sukma) 2022 Female Athlete-of-the-Year Nur Jannaton Abd Jalil have confirmed their tickets to Paris from the Asian Continental Para Qualification Archery Championships in Bangkok, secured at the end of last year, respectively as men’s recurve champion and women’s compound runner-up.

The national squad are currently undergoing a week-long training camp starting yesterday with university and Sukma athletes at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) Terengganu, to ensure the mission in Dubai is successful because only the two best archers (finalists) for each category will qualify for Paris.

Marzuki said that the camp in Terengganu aims to improve the mental and physical endurance of his charges, as he expects a fierce challenge from participants from all over the world to grab the qualification slots in Dubai.

“We will have normal practice for two days, then we will practice using the actual tournament format alongside ‘normal athletes’ from UniSZA, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and Terengganu Sukma athletes to test the level of preparedness of our (national) athletes.

“Rigorous top-flight training will sharpen their technique and skills, in addition to helping them improve their points in the qualifying round at the actual tournament later. They need to give more than 100 per cent commitment to achieve that mission,” he told Bernama.

“We have high hopes for Wiro, who once qualified for the Tokyo (Para) Games, as well as Daneshen who almost qualified for Paris but missed out by one point in the previous tournament, to win the tickets for sure this time,” he said.

He said although Suresh and Nur Jannaton have won the slots to Paris, they are also required to show their best performance at the training camp and in Dubai in preparation for the Paris Paralympic Games to be held from Aug 28 to Sept 8. -Bernama