The 20th Asian Archery Championship 2017, one of the biggest sports festival in the country, begins at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Saturday (November 25) for the first time in Bangladesh under the auspices of Bangladesh Archery Federation (BAF) and World Archery Asia (WAA).
Hosts Bangladesh, which field a 25-member team, including 18 archers and seven officials, keep their bird eyes on quarterfinal in team event.
A record of 161 men’s and 125 women’s archers from 35 Asian countries, including Bangladesh, are expected to compete in the six-day tournament, a continental qualifying round for YOG Buenos Aires 2018, for 10 gold, 10 silver and 30 bronze medals of 10 events.
The events are: Recurve Men’s team, Recurve Women’s team, Recurve Men’s Individual, Recurve Women’s Individual, Compound Men’s team, Compound Women’s team, Compound Men’s Individual, Compound Women’s Individual, Recurve Mixed team and Compound Mixed team.
The participating countries are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, DPR Korea, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Chinese Taipei, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.
President of Bangladesh Archery Federation and Chairman of the Organising Committee Lt Gen (retd) Mohammad Mainul Islam disclosed these at a press conference at the Dutch-Bangla Auditorium of Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) on Thursday.
Vice-president of World Archery Asia and Tournament Director Sanguan Kosavinta from Thailand, Secretary General of World Archery Asia Sung Ho-Um and General Secretary of Bangladesh Archery Federation Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapal also spoke on the occasion.
Addressing the pressmen, the BAF president explained their aim to organise the heavyweight meet in the country, saying, “Our main vision is to make Bangladesh an archery hub in Asia as well as to prepare ourselves to earn an Olympic medal.”
The Bangladesh team was also announced at the function.
In the last Asian Championship in Bangkok in 2015, South Korea comfortably dominated the medal table securing six gold, five silver and two bronze medals followed by India with three gold, two silvers and one bronze and Chinese Taipei with one gold and three silver medals.
Among the Bangladeshi competitors, Ruman Sana was the best finishing 5th in the Recurve Men’s Individual. Besides, Bangladesh was placed 7th in the Compound Women’s team, placed 9th each in Recurve Women’s team, Compound Men’s team and Compound Mixed team.
