KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian women's archers will have the chance to fire up the rest of their teammates at the Paris Olympics with an early show.
The women's archery team of Ariana Nur Dania Zairi, 19, Nurul Azreena Fazil, 20, and Syaqiera Mashayikh, 24. will be the first Malaysian Olympic athletes to swing into action tomorrow, at the Esplanade de Invalides.
Twelve teams of three competitors each will shoot it out in the rankings round which begins at 3.30pm, tomorrow, Malaysian time.
If the Malaysians finish in the top four of the ranking rounds, they will advance to the quarter-finals.
Coach Norizham Ishak said his archers are in high spirits and eager for action.
"They have trained hard and are ready to give their best. We have had a few training sessions in Paris and hopefully they will have a good start in the competition."
A good start from the archers will indeed be a big boost to their compatriots in the other eight sports.
The archery heavyweights (women's recurve) in the Olympics are South Korea, Germany, France, India and Mexico.
Ariana and company had two weeks of high intensity training in South Korea before arriving in Paris.
The trio earned their Olympic ticket after finishing runners-up to Hangzhou Asian Games silver medallists China in the World Olympic Qualifier in Antalya, Turkey, last month.