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Cheng Chu Sian - Bernama |
Both were tied 105-105 after the regular 12 arrows.
In the shoot-off, both scored a nine with the first arrow and in the second, Lee, shot first and again struck a nine.
Cheng saw his chance. He stepped up and, displaying nerves of steel, hit the centre of the board for the second time in the third-round bout.
The arena erupted into applause while the large crowd of Korean fans, who had come to cheer on the experienced Lee, were left in despair.
"I told myself that I must do my best to make up for the team event. I went to sleep early last night," said the 22-year-old, who is from Penang.
"I have beaten him before but I cannot recall when. Lee has also lost to Wan Khalmizam (Abd Aziz) before and possibly because of this, he is under a lot of pressure when he faces opposition from Malaysia," Cheng added.
Cheng will meet Bair Badenov of Russia at 4.13pm Friday. The Russian advanced by ousting Jay Lyon of Canada 115-110.
This the best achievement by a Malaysian archer in Olympic history.
Lee, who was in the South Korean gold winning team in the Beijing Olympics, scored an Olympic record of 117 only two days ago in the first round.
Cheng was one point behind after the second arrow but his consistency prevailed to a 52-50 lead midway as the Korean dropped back with a dismal seven in the third arrow. After nine arrows, both were level at 78-78. Cheng was one behind again after the 10th arrow but he recovered with a perfect 10 in the 11th arrow to make it 96-96 going into the final arrow, where both shot a nine to tie 105-105 to force the shoot-off.
Cheng, who is the highest ranked Malaysian in the world standing at number 13, had fared the worst during the team quarter-finals in teaming up with Wan Khalmizam Abd Aziz and Muhd Marbawi Sulaiman. (The Star)
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