After winning Druk Super Star Archery Championship 

Thinley Namgay  

Five players of team Point Commercial from Punakha will fly to Australia for a fully- funded more than 20-day tour  in February.  This is the prize for winning the Druk Super Star Archery Championship 2022.

While in Australia,  the team will also participate in the Druk Hybrid Archery Championship in Canberra.

Winning two straight sets of nine points each, Point Commercial defeated Choglay Namgyal from Phuentsholing and Five Brothers from Haa in the finals held at Danglo archery range at Namselling, Thimphu on October 29.

In an entertaining and competitive game that was broadcast live, team Point Commercial hit 56 team kareys.  Choglay Namgyal and Five Brothers hit 52 and 51 kareys, respectively.

Point Commercial won a set before the lunch break and it took just five rounds after lunch to win the second set and to win the championship.

The finalists were made to play 18 rounds unlike 15 rounds in the league, quarterfinals and semifinals in nine different locations around the country and Sikkim, India.

Captain Tshering of Point Commercial, said:  “We are excited to go to Australia. None of us has visited Australia before. It is a life-time opportunity for us.”

He said the team was delighted to win all the eight matches of the tournament including the final. “We formed a team this year after knowing about the tournament. Our players are experienced and we expected to win.”

Different point calculation

The Druk Super Star Archery Championship 2022 had a unique approach to point calculation compared to traditional and other Yangphel style archery tournaments.

It was based on a colour system.

The whole idea was not about how many kareys a team hits but the quality of the kareys.

The target was prepared in such a way that the star mark at the top is equal to seven points, followed by five on the yellow colour, three in red, two in blue, and one point in white. For instance, a karey on the star is equal to seven kareys in the white area.

After 18 rounds, Choglay Namgyal was short of just three points to complete the set, but they had to play penalty against Five Brothers for the second place.

In the penalty, five players from both teams shot an arrow each for a round. Choglay Namgyal’s first shooter, Jabchu, was the only shooter to hit the target.

Organiser Kencho Wangdi said the tournament was organised in collaboration with the Druk Hybrid Archery Championship based in Canberra supported by Red Earth Education and Migration Agents.

The tournament which began on September 7 saw 181 teams including 13 from Sikkim, India.

Kencho Wangdi said the interest overwhelmed him.  “Twenty teams had to be cancelled for registering after the deadline.   The tournament was to provide opportunity to all the archers irrespective of talent.”

Choglay Namgyal players got a prime compound bow each, and a Datron compound bow each was awarded to the archers of Five Brothers.

The best archer of the tournament was Chencho Dorji from team Laya.   Karma from Point Commercial was the man of the match on Saturday. He hit 16 kareys in 18 rounds.

The tournament was conducted in Haa, Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Bumthang, Mongar, Gelephu, Phuentsholing and Sikkim for around two months.