SMKTD'S FIRST ARCHERER

For the first time in the history of SMK Taman Desa, Harrison Ooi, a Form One student represented the school in the MSSMKL Archery Competition. YES! He is SMKTD's very own William Tell!

This is Harrison Ooi’s report

The MSSMKL Archery Competition was spread over a three day period: 20th, 23rd and 24th April 2007.
20th April

I was given the number 9A which meant that I was assigned to target butt 9 and my opponent was the participant numbered 9B. I was a little nervous but I wasn’t about to let that ruin my concentration. We had to shoot over a range of 50 meters. This was quite daunting as I have never shot beyond 30 meters all this while. Fortunately, before the competition began, we were allowed three practice rounds to tune our sights in.

I hit a bull's eye!

The competition started and I was doing quite well until I accidentally shot through the clicker which is a device that clicks when the arrow is drawn to the correct length. I tried to tighten it, but it wouldn’t respond! I had to shoot without it, which meant that I was at a disadvantage. During the last round, I miraculously shot a bull’s eye! In the afternoon I had to shoot 40 meters, which I have also not done before but this time it went more smoothly as the earlier one was much more difficult.

23rd April - Too little, too late!

Today I did not perform well even though my instructor had helped fix the clicker problem. This was because I had not slept well the previous night. Even though I only had to shoot within the range of 20-30 meters I couldn’t quite come up with a stellar performance. Towards the end of the day, I started to get my feel again but it was too little, too late.

24th April- In the top ten!

On the final day of competition, we had to shoot Olympic Round Style at 40 meters. There were 32 participants in all and after two days of competing I was placed in the top ten. This meant that I was through to the second round.

I was pitted against a more experienced student from SMK Victoria in this last event. He had been practicing archery for two years and this was his second competition. We were both doing well at first and after a few rounds he was only three points ahead of me.

On the last round I hit a bull’s eye! And then another one in succession! However, when I stole a glance at my opponent, I realized he had done equally well. Then he hit a six on his last shot, this was my chance! All I needed was another bull’s eye (gold) to win. Unfortunately, lady luck wasn’t with me that day, the moment before I released my arrow, I lost concentration and hit a 5. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe nervousness got into the way or maybe I was still a greenhorn at this.

At the end of the competition, even though I did not win a medal, it was a worthwhile experience. I will try again next year and hopefully win a medal.

Reported by :
Harrison Ooi of Form 1 Puyuh