Thinley Namgay  

National recurve archers Kinley Tshering and Lam Dorji from the Bhutan Archery Federation (BAF) are currently in Yecheon, South Korea, to participate in the Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage two.

The Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage II is part of the ongoing training for the two archers to qualify for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, which will take place in July.

The fixture for the competition has not been drawn yet. Hundreds of archers from around 30 countries are taking part.

Prior to the competition, both archers underwent regular training for months at the Bhutan Archery Federation’s (BAF) ground in Langjophakha, Thimphu.

Kinley and Lam are the two most experienced national archers in the country today and have participated in various international archery competitions.

Last November, the archers couldn’t secure a quota from the Bangkok Archery Championship.

As a final competition to win a quota, Kinley and Lam will contest in the archery championship in Turkey from June 14 to 17.

The minimum qualifying score is 640 points, but players have to acquire more than that to grab an Olympic quota.

The team is led by Coach Youngsook Park, an experienced coach from South Korea.

Under her leadership, Bhutan qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan.

Confidence and expectations among archers and officials are high this time with her presence.

Moreover, the experiences of the archers are also expected to make a difference.

BAF provided the opportunity only for male archers this time based on the talent. One of the BAF officials said the potential women archer Karma went abroad for studies, and BAF will continue training existing women archers for future Olympics.

The Bhutan Olympic Committee plans to select three athletes from boxing, recurve archery, and swimming for the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Athletes in these sports categories have been undergoing intensive training.