Archery Championship to feature record entries

After being postponed three times, the 16th National Archery Championship is finally set to roll on 21 January at the Tongi Archery Ground, bringing relief to athletes and officials alike. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held last month but had to be deferred repeatedly due to political unrest, which raised concerns over the safety and movement of athletes.

The four-day competition will feature a record 71 clubs and services teams, with nearly 400 archers competing in recurve and compound disciplines. Events will include men’s and women’s individual, team and mixed team categories, with a total of 10 gold, 10 silver and 10 bronze medals at stake for both the male and female archers.

This edition carries added significance as the federation has introduced prize money for the first time in the championship’s history. Cash awards will be given in individual events across both recurve and compound categories for men and women. Gold medalists will receive Tk50,000, silver medalists Tk25,000, and bronze medalists Tk10,000, a move aimed at motivating archers and raising the standard of domestic competition.

The championship also reflects recent shifts in the national archery scene. Star archers Abul Kashem Mamun and Shamoli Roy, formerly of the Police Archery Club, are now representing Ansar after the Police unit became inactive. Several other service archers have also changed teams.

Federation accommodation has been arranged for around 200 archers, while athletes from services teams will commute from their respective organisations. The presence of two Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan (BKSP) teams, along with several new clubs, highlights the steady growth and expanding base of archery in Bangladesh.