Youth Olympic Archery: Abdud Dayyan crashes out in quarter-final

Story by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Ying Quan/Red Sports

Kallang Field, Saturday, August 21, 2010 – Singapore’s male representative, Abdud Dayyan Bin Mohd Jaffar crashed out in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Archery Men’s Individual Category quarter-final, losing to the sixth-ranked Slovenian Gregor Rajh 0-6.

Ranked 14th, Abdud Dayyan upsetted third-seed Mark Nesbitt from Britain in the earlier round of 16 elimination after a spectacular finish.

In the round of 16, Abdud Dayyan and Mark drew the first set at 25-25 after scoring 8, 9, 8 and 9, 8, 8 respectively, giving each of them a point at the end of the set.

Mark placed a near-perfect performance in the second set, scoring 9, 10, 10 while Abdud Dayyan only managed a bullseye and two eights, allowing Mark to gain two points with his win in the set, establishing a 3-1 lead.

In the third set, Abdud Dayyan was looking forward to level the score after Mark had a inaccurate first shot, scoring only six points. However, a bullseye finish by Mark caused a 25-all tie in the set, allowing Mark to keep the lead at 4-2.

In the fourth set, Mark struggled in his start again, scoring another disappointing six points. Two mediocre eight-point finishes saw Mark going down to Abdud Dayyan who, on the other hand, scored a satisfying 8, 8, 9 points. Abdud Dayyan levelled the score at 4-4.

In the deciding set, Abdud Dayyan and Mark drew after two shots at 17-17. The confident Singaporean hit bullseye in the last shot to send himself into the quarter finals.

“I was nervous at the start. However, as the match progressed, I settled down. I felt confident upon releasing the last shot.” Abdud Dayyan shared.

In the quarter-final, Abdud Dayyan could not repeat his outstanding performance and lost three consecutive sets 26-28, 20-26, 23-27 against Slovenia’s Gregor Rajh, to have an early exit.

In the first set, the Slovenian, who was ranked sixth, started strongly, scoring 9, 9, 10. On the other hand, Abdud Dayyan only managed 7, 10, 9.

In the second set, Abdud Dayyan’s had a below average performance, scoring 9, 4, 7 while Gregor scored 8, 9, 9.

In the third set, Abdud Dayyan still struggled to find his momentum, scoring 8, 8, 7 while Rajh sealed the victory after scoring 8, 10, 9.

Singpore’s coach, Park Young Sook commented on Abdud Dayyan’s performance, “He has performed above expectation. We did not expect him to beat Mark. However, there are rooms for improvement for him, such as his aiming.”

Abdud Dayyan was satisfied with his performance too, “I am not expecting to get a medal. I go into the tournament to experience and have fun but I have done well.”