Fatin Takes Silver, Malaysia Ends Bangkok in Glory

Finals Day at the 2026 Asia Cup–World Ranking Tournament Stage I in Bangkok delivered heartbreak and history in equal measure for Malaysia. Across four individual events and two mixed team finals, the national contingent fought with distinction — claiming a silver medal in the compound women’s individual and the compound mixed team, while Evan Rich Chong and Joey Tan Xing Lei fell just short of bronze in hard-fought medal matches.

When the dust settled, Malaysia ended this tournament with two silvers and two bronzes. And the architect of it all was Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh.

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Compound Women — A Silver That Stings

The centrepiece match of Finals Day was the compound women’s individual gold medal final, and Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh gave everything she had. Facing Arina Cherkezova of AIN, the Malaysian ace produced scores of 27, 29, 30, 30 and 28 — a total of 144. But Cherkezova was immovable, responding with 30, 28, 30, 28 and 29 to claim gold by the narrowest of margins. A single point. One arrow. The difference between gold and silver.

It is worth stepping back to appreciate what Fatin Nurfatehah achieved this week. She helped the compound women’s team clinch the bronze medal, fought her way to the individual compound women’s gold final, and partnered Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki to the compound mixed team gold final — claiming silver in both individual contests.

Compound Mixed Team — Another Silver

In the compound mixed team gold final, Fatin Nurfatehah and Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki faced India’s top seeds. The Malaysians pushed hard but fell short 144–145 in a tense contest, adding a second silver to their Bangkok haul. It completed an extraordinary week for the compound women’s programme — team bronze, individual silver, and mixed team silver all in the same tournament.

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Recurve Men — Evan Rich Falls to Batuev

Evan Rich Chong faced world-ranked Kirill Batuev of AIN in the recurve men’s bronze medal match and put up a spirited fight, but ultimately fell 5–6 in a shoot-off — going down 5 cumulative points to Batuev’s 10 in the deciding end. It was the slimmest of margins to end what had been a superb individual run for the Malaysian ace, who defeated Sarkar Juyel (India) to reach the final four.

Recurve Women — Joey Tan Falls to Liu Xin

Joey Tan Xing Lei gave a creditable account in the recurve women’s bronze medal match but was beaten by China’s Liu Xin 2–6. Liu Xin proved too consistent across the ends, and Joey Tan’s campaign ended at 4th place. It remains an impressive result for the young Malaysian recurve women’s programme, particularly given the team bronze they claimed earlier in the week.

Tournament Reflection

When Malaysia’s contingent boards their flight home from Bangkok, they do so with two silver medals and two bronze medals — a haul that reflects the genuine depth of talent now present across all four disciplines. The compound women’s programme in particular has arrived as a continental force, with Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh, Aina Syazwana Abdul Muhaimin, and Ng Sui Kim forming one of Asia’s most competitive trios. The recurve programme showed real fight too, with Evan Rich Chong and Joey Tan Xing Lei both reaching individual bronze medal matches in a tournament of this calibre.