Puteri Qaira becomes queen of the Sukma archery range

In a thrilling final at the Selangor Malaysia Games (Sukma) held at INSPEN Stadium, Perak archer Puteri Qaira Qistina Hairol Supfian secured the women's compound 50-metre gold medal. The 15-year-old archer had initially been locked in a tie with Sabah's Catherine Looi, both scoring 142 points. However, Perak coach Dr Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh challenged Puteri's final arrow, and the judges upgraded it from eight to nine points, giving Puteri the narrow victory by just one point.

Puteri admitted she was initially not focused on winning gold, but rather on the possibility of contributing a gold medal to Perak. She expressed that she was not overly nervous, as she had previously settled for second place in the qualifying round. Despite losing the qualifying round to Catherine, Puteri admitted that she was pleased with her flawless performance in the final, noting that she made fewer mistakes when it mattered most.

The victory was particularly sweet for Puteri, as it vindicated her decision to switch from recurve to compound archery two years ago. She had struggled in recurve, but when she switched to compound and won her first competition, she felt confident in her abilities. Wee Yee Qi of Sarawak took home the silver medal, while Nur Alyaa Nazurah Fdzil Fairuz of Brunei Darussalam claimed the bronze.