Diya into last hurdle while Ruman bows out

Star archer Ruman Sana was eliminated in the individual recurve bow event of the 13th National Archery Championships when the Olympian suffered a 6-4 defeat to Rakib Miah in the quarterfinals while Diya Siddique progressed to the final of the same event at the Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master Stadium in Tongi yesterday.

Promising archer Rakib proceeded to reach the finals, having edged past Mohammad Foysal in tiebreakers after scores stood at 5-5 in five sets. Rakib will now face the defending champion Ram Krishna Saha, who beat his national teammate Hakim Ahmed Rubel 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Although Ruman could not, again, shine in the national championships, however, another star national archer Diya Siddique, will make a reappearance in the final after she shrugged Sarabony Akter 6-0 in the individual women's recurve bow event's final, where Eity Khatun will be her final hurdle.

Eity, an out-of-favour national archer, overcame Fahmida Sultana 7-3 in the semifinal after defeating Asia Cup gold-medal winner Nasin Akter 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

In the individual compound event, Ashikuzzaman beat Abul Kashem Mamun 149-141 to seal the gold while Mithu Rahman bagged the bronze medal with a 143-142 win over Himu Bacchar in the medal-deciding match.

Meanwhile, Shamoli Roy grabbed gold in women's individual compound event after beating Suma Bishwas 144-140 while Puspita Zaman beat Sayma Akter 141-128 to win bronze in the same event.