A team of traditional archers from Bhutan won two gold and a silver medal at the World Historical Archery Championship that was held at Gyula, Hungary from August 13 – 19.

Bhutan had sent a team of five archers. Yonten Phuntsho and Damchoe Wangdi won a gold medal each. Yonten Phuntesho also received a separate special award.

Ugyen Dorji and Tshewang Dorji stood forth and fifth winning a certificate each.

A total of 23 countries consisting of more than 300 archers participated in the championship.

Bhutan Indigenous Games and Sports Association (BIGSA) applied for membership for International Archery Association in 2016 and got registered in January 2018.

This is the second time traditional archers participated in the championship. No medals were won when three archers participated in the same tournament in 2016.

President of BIGSA, former minster Kingzang Dorji said the win is an important achievement for Bhutan and traditional archery. He said the archers were selected based on individual performance in the national archery tournament. BIGSA, he said, is planning to organise an International Historical Archery Tournament in Bhutan sometime in mid 2019. “This will give more opportunities to many traditional archers in the country.”

At the championship, the archers participated in long distance target, short distance target, 3D archery and long distance height. Bhutanese archers performed well in the long distance target archery to bring home the medals.

Yonten Phuntsho, 29, said he is happy and proud to win a gold for the country. He started playing traditional archery from 2015.

Another gold medalist Damchoe Wangdi said he didn’t expect to win and that he is proud and happy.

Nim Dorji   

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