Alim clinches best player award; Turkey, Italy win two golds each

World No. 1 and World champion Nur Syahidah Alim of Singapore clinched gold medal in the Compound Open Women finals and picked up the Best Female Player of the Tournament award as the curtains fell on the sixth Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tounament in Dubai on Friday.

Alim overcame a fighting Maria Andrea Virgilio from Italy 135-131 in the final that was led by the former throughout. Virgilio though tried hard to level the scores though it was too little too late. Alim thus continued her great run of form from the 2019 World Para Archery Championships in Holland to the new-year, and hoped to keep up the momentum in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

“The final was challenging. It was a close contest and I was trying to stay focused throughout the match. My coach was always telling me, ‘Breathe in Confidence and Breathe out Anxiety’. It is also part of our training process. I am happy to execute the plans my team had. I am looking forward to the Tokyo 2020 Games now,” said Alim, who finished fifth at the Rio 2016 Games and hopes to have a podium finish in Tokyo.

The men’s Compound Open final was another edge-of-the-seat affair as Slovakia’s European Championships bronze medallist Marcel Pavlik defeated an equally strong Alberto Simonelli, the Paralympic medallist from Italy, to defend his title in style.

Simonelli stayed on the heels of Pavlik until the end, starting with level scores to a difference of two points in the fourth end 112-114.  The Italian star hit a perfect 30 in the fifth end but Pavlik kept his calm and scored a 9, 10 and X to win the thriller by one point 143-142.

Pavlik raised his bow, his new ‘lover’ he had said earlier, to celebrate his win and hugged his coach. “I have worked very hard to have a good 2020 season. And to win at the start of the season is surely a confidence booster. I am excited about the Paralympics,” said the overjoyed Slovakian.

Elsewhere, it was Turkey and Italy who shared the honours claiming two gold medals each. While Turkey finished with seven medals overall, Italy closed their campaign with eight medals.

The Recurve Open Men title was claimed by Patru Eugen of Romania who shocked Turkish Paralympian Sadik Savas 6-2, before Merve Nur Eroglu compensated it and gave Turkey its first gold in Recurve Open Women’s final. Eroglu defeated London Paralympic silver medallist champion Elisabetta Mijno 7-1 for her first international gold medal. She is a two-time Worlds silver medallist.