Malaysian archer Khairul Anuar Mohamad made history when he clinched Malaysia’s first ever medal at the World Championships in 2019. Mohamad also secured his qualification for the individual event at the Tokyo Olympics after beating the odds to reach the World Championship final in the Netherlands, where he lost out to Brady Ellison, the World No 3 from the United States.

Mohamad was born in Kemaman, Terengganu in Malaysia and has become an ambassador for archery in his home country, constantly striving to give the sport a good name. Supported by his family throughout his archery career, he has always pushed himself to the limits and has aimed to fulfil his late father’s hopes that he would win gold medals at world-level championships, especially the Olympic Games. Mohamad first joined the Malaysian national team in 2011, and took part in the FITA Archery World Cup Stage 4 in the same year, becoming the first Malaysian to win an archery medal at an individual World Cup event reaching the final before he was defeated by America’s Joe Fanchin. Mohamad also beat Hideki Kikuchi of Japan 6-2 to win gold in the men’s individual event at the 2011 Asian Archery Championships in Iran, also helping the Malaysian team defeat China to win his second gold of the competition.

In 2012 Mohamad qualified for his first Olympics and reached the quarter final of the individual event, and also qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Tokyo will be Mohamad’s third Olympics, and he has been earmarked by several experts as a potential medallist.