Locals shine against young Indians

Hosts Bangladesh confirmed at least two gold medals on the opening day of the 3rd South Asian Archery Championships as the local archers made it to an all-Bangladeshi final in the men's individual recurve and women's individual compound events at the BKSP in Savar yesterday.

Apart from those two achievements, Nasrin Akter moved into the women's individual recurve final where she will meet India's Himani while Milon Mollah brought the first medal for the hosts by beating compatriot Asim Kumar Das 143-140 in the men's compound bronze-medal deciding match.

The country's number one archer Roman Sana, who emerged number one from the ranking round by scoring 667 out of 720 points, beat India's Akash 6-0 in semifinal to set up a final clash against young teammate Ibrahim Sheikh Rejwan, who beat India's Sumed V Mohod 6-4.

Rejwan, who was playing his second international competition after participating in the Asian Championships in Dhaka last year, also impressed all to finish behind Roman in the ranking round with a score of 650 points. The top two archers in the ranking round eventually moved into the men's recurve final to be held tomorrow.

Following their footsteps, Roksana Akter and Susmita Banik also made it an all-Bangladeshi final in women's individual compound event.

Roksana, who finished sixth in the ranking round with a score of 656 points, outshone second-ranked Babita Kumari of India while Susmita, who finished fourth in the ranking round with a score of 668 points, stunned top-ranked Isha Ketan Pawar of India in the semifinals.

In the women's individual recurve event, Nasrin finished second in the ranking round and deservedly moved into the final after beating Sri Lanka's Lakshari Madushika 6-0 in the semifinal. Nasrin will play the final against India's Himani, who finished top in the ranking round by scoring 23 points more than Nasrin's 597.

India, who are represented by youth archers aged between 17 and 20, missed out on the final in the men's recurve event, but made up for it by turning the men's compound event into an all-Indian affair. Meanwhile, India's Kirti beat compatriot Lakshari Madushika to win a bronze medal in the women's recurve event.

“It was a nice first day. The archers improved a lot as the day progressed even though I was not happy in the morning with the qualification scores. But some archers did well to improve and showed fighting attitude and went to gold medal matches,” said Bangladesh coach Martin Frederick.

“I am happy to reach the final because the championships are being held after 10 years. If I can win gold, I will be the first Bangladeshi to do so for Bangladesh in the South Asian Archery Championships,” said Roman.