‘We finally got the reward’

The Bangladeshi archers might not have exceeded expectations in the individual events of the ongoing 22nd Asian Archery Championships but they managed to rise to the occasion in the team events with medal-winning performances at the Army Stadium in Banani yesterday.

The hosts bagged two bronze medals in the Women's and Men's Recurve team events and in the process, broke their deadlock in the continental championships. The latest triumph by the Bangladeshi archers makes an illustrious entry to their cabinet, along with previously achieved medals from bigger stages - Archery World Cup Stage-2 and World Archery Championships.

The women's team, starring Diya Siddique, Nasrin Akter and Beauty Roy, sealed the day's first bronze by beating Vietnam 5-3 on set points before the men's team, comprising Ruman Sana, Hakim Ahmed Rubel and Ram Krishna, defeated Kazakhstan 6-2 on set points.

"We were really confident of winning the medal. We are delighted after doing our jobs successfully because it has been our first-ever medal in Asian Championships," said an ecstatic Diya, who will pair with Hakim to fight for the gold medal in the Recurve mixed team event on Friday.

"We finally got the reward. We did well because we worked really hard and were very focused in the training for the past year and during the games as well," Nasrin informed.

One more bronze was up for grabs in the day's other event, however, Bangladesh men's compound team lost 223-235 to India.

Country's star archer Ruman Sana said, "We have been improving day by day even though we are still far from Korea and India. However, every archer lives the dream of winning a medal while participating in any international tournament. And under the guidance of coach Martin Fredrick, we gained plenty of confidence to perform in international competitions."