Mon Redee: Malaysia’s first Olympic archer

Day one: The beginning of something. An event, a campaign, a festival – every project starts on day one. 

A case in point: 5 September is day one of the Gwangju 2025 Hyundai World Archery Championships.

Former recurve archer Mon Redee Ap Sut Txi was at day one of international competitive archery in Malaysia, and her long-standing legacy is still felt today. 

After first learning about the sport in school under the state’s development programme, and with a passion to represent her country, Mon Redee went on to be involved in Malaysia’s first ever senior national archery squad at the 2001 South East Asian Games and later became the nation’s trailblazer as the first Malaysian to shoot at an Olympics.

“I feel very happy to have achieved my dream of qualifying for the Olympics since I took my first steps in the national team in 2001 – the efforts of around three years yielded results,” said Mon Redee, who was eliminated in the first round of Athens 2004 by Natalia Bolotova. 

“The Olympic Games are an event that every athlete dreams of, however, going to Athens alone with coach Lee Jae Hyung never felt lacking, because my intention at that time was only to qualify for the first Olympics in my career as an athlete.”

“I just wanted to gain experience.”

If Athens was about experience, Beijing 2008 was meant to be about medals – but unfortunately for Mon Redee, the latter never arrived.

A recurring sprain along her right arm and shoulder – which according to experts was “caused by overuse” – forced the Olympian to retire prematurely at 24. Her last competition would be the 2006 Asian Grand Prix in Myanmar.

Mon Redee’s career may have been cruelly cut short, but it is still to be admired – especially considering she wasn’t even the top ranked recurve women’s archer in Malaysia to begin with.

Heading into the 2001 South East Asian Games, she was the lowest ranked archer of the Malaysian women’s team, behind Fairuz Hanisah Che Ibrahim, Anbarasi Subramaniam and Lim Geok Pong – a team who would go on to win silver. 

“I never gave up because I believe that, where there is effort, there will be success. I am not an athlete who gives up easily and always wants to learn new things.”

“I had to try harder than the others and take the opportunities given. At that time, I was the first person who set the ambition to qualify for the Olympics,” added the 43-year-old.

In hindsight, starting at the back of the pack was never going to be enough to halt Mon Redee’s Olympic ambitions.

After revealing to coach Lee-Jae that qualifying for Athens was on her agenda, the Korean was a “bit surprised”, as conjuring a competitive squad for the 2001 South East Asian Games was the most important goal at the time of his appointment.

But Mon Redee’s dedication to the sport shone through, and three years later she found herself at the top of the national ranks.

She was Malaysia’s only entry for two of the 2002 Asian Grands Prix (sixth and eighth), won gold in the first leg of the 2003 competition – her sole career medal – and was again Malaysia’s sole archer at the 13th Asian Championships. 

Her desire pushed her way past the expectations of many – including her own coach – when she deservedly took Malaysia’s one athlete quota for Athens, but it is Jae-Young that Mon Redee credits the most for helping her make history. 

“Lee always instilled to me and teammates, that Malaysian archery team also can be same level with other countries’ whose achievements were much better at that time,” she said on her old coach, now the Malaysian team manager. “What we need to do is not to give up easily and undergo continuous training to improve the aspects needed in this sport.”

“He always instilled dreams high to succeed such as achieving higher scores and winning medals.” The Korean has overseen Malaysia at every Olympics since.

Mon Redee’s legacy in Malaysian archery was remembered again in Paris 2024 when Ariana Nur Diana Mohamad Zairi, Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil and Syaqiera Mashayikh became the first full three athlete women’s team to compete at an Olympics.

Although encouraged by another landmark achievement, Mon Redee now wants Malaysia to progress in the Games themselves and be established as a real force on the world stage.

“By qualifying for the 2004 Olympics, one of my intentions was to show all athletes in Malaysia that qualifying for the Olympics is not impossible.”

“It’s been 20 years, but still no results. Every athlete wants to win a medal, so all parties must work together to help them in any way they can.”

She’s been out of the game for over 10 years, but Mon Redee is still doing her bit towards helping a maiden Olympic medal for Malaysia, coaching young archers at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 70 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur – alongside lecturing on sports psychology.

Her remit in this department goes beyond recurve, mentoring compound archers as well. One of her pupils Natasha Binti Mohd Shahruddin recently competed at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games.

Mon Redee’s students couldn’t have asked for a better person to learn from considering her archery career’s trials and tribulations.

Hers is a lesser known tale outside of Malaysia, but one of unequivocal focus and determination: the marks of a true athlete who changed her country’s archery fortunes for the better.

All photos courtesy of Mon Redee Sut Txi.