Singapore archer Syahidah Alim and shooter Daniel Chan bow out of the Paralympics

SINGAPORE — Singapore's world No. 2 archer Syahidah Alim was off to a red-hot start at the Paralympics on Aug 30, scoring two maximum 10s in the individual compound open round-of-32 match against Australia's Ameera Lee.

But as the rain started to fall, the weather appeared to dampen her accuracy.

A wayward 5 to start the second end — each archer shoots five ends of three arrows — ultimately proved costly.

While Syahidah was still leading 80-79 after three ends, Lee stepped up with a perfect fourth end to take control for a 135-133 win.

"That's the beauty of the sport — it's anyone's game," said the 39-year-old, who was born with diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy marked by stiff lower limbs and difficulty walking or standing for extended periods of time.

"It's definitely disappointing not being able to advance further, but I'm proud of the efforts I put in my shooting. I was pleased with the strong start, but that 5 in the second end was definitely a setback. That shot shook my confidence for a while, and I had to work hard to regain my composure for the rest of the round.

"I tried to focus on each shot and not dwell on that bad shot, even though it was challenging. The rain added an extra layer of difficulty to the competition. It got a lot colder, making it challenging to maintain consistency and mental focus with my shots."

Her coach Pang Qing Liang noted that she had a shaky start in the Aug 29 ranking round and managed to regroup, but that was reversed in the knockout round.

He said: "Moving forward we can improve on working on mental toughness so that during different environments and stressors, she can still be able to be very consistent in her shots."

This is the 2019 world champion's third outing at the Paralympics — she was eliminated in the quarter-finals and round of 16 respectively at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

In Paris, she placed 11th out of 28 archers in the ranking round with a season-best score of 677 on Aug 29.

In the round of 32, she was drawn against 44th-ranked Lee, a Paralympics debutante who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012 and picked up the sport in 2016. The Australian was 22nd in the ranking round.

Despite her dismay, Syahidah said she has learnt new things about herself and her approach to competition.

She added: "One key takeaway is the importance of mental resilience, especially when things don't go as planned. Staying focused and adapting quickly to changing conditions, like the weather, is crucial.

"I've also gained a deeper understanding of the level of preparation and consistency required to compete at the highest level. Moving forward, I'll be focusing on building my mental strength to ensure I'm ready for any situation that comes my way."

Later in the day, Singapore's first Paralympic shooter Daniel Chan narrowly missed out on a final spot when he finished 10th in the 10m air pistol SH1 qualification at the National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux.

The 36-year-old, who has Erb's palsy in his left arm, scored 561, just one point from the top eight who advanced to the final, which was eventually won by South Korean Jo Jeong-du.

India's Manish Narwal and China's defending champion, world and Paralympic record holder Yang Chao, took silver and bronze respectively.

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Chan made a shaky start with an 88 in his opening series of 10 shots — none from the top eight shot lower than 91 in any of their six series — but he almost pulled off a superb comeback with consistently high scores after that.

After firing 94, 93, and 95, he recorded a remarkable 98 in the fifth series that was matched by only two other shooters during the qualification round.

However, in his third-last shot in the final series, an eight scuppered his hopes of becoming the first Singaporean shooter to make a Paralympic final on his debut.

His coach Deanne Pheong was proud of how the debutant overcame a nervy first series to do "exceptionally well", noting that "it is not easy to get to compete in such a big-scale competition".

Chan said: "It is definitely disappointing not because of the score, but for how I handled the shot process because I know I can perform better than this.

"I was kind of nervous at the start, had trouble firing off as the gun was moving a lot and my triggering wasn't firm. After that I changed my mindset and focus which resulted in better scores. During my last series, my time was running out so I had to rush through a bit. But I am glad to be able to end the competition with a 10.

"There is a lot of room for improvement, so I will go back and discuss with my coach and my team about these areas. This competition will definitely make me a better shooter and person moving forward."

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.