The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Bhutan Archery Federation (BAF), Bhutan Indigenous Games and Sports Association (BIGSA) in collaboration with the Bhutan Olympic Committee (BOC) are organizing the first-ever Bhutan National Archery Championship aligning with the World Archery Federation standard to identify talented individuals, and provide support for the players for the future international games.
The Bhutan National Archery Tournament is an archery tournament based on the international compound archery style with the use of sights and triggers.
The Secretary-General of BOC, Sonam Karma Tshering, shared, “Since Archery is our traditional sport, people expect the athletes to do exceptionally well, however, the standard of playing archery, here, in Bhutan does not meet the international standards.”
He also stressed that the main objective behind organizing such tournaments is to infuse the traditional compound archery playing style with international standards using a complete set of equipment, and find a pool of talented individuals and groom them.
Also, the athletes would be encouraged and supported by the federation to participate in the upcoming Asian and Regional Asian games, particularly targeting the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 edition which would be held in Japan.
Apart from the tournament, the Secretary-General also shared that the use of complete equipment, such as sights and triggers, while playing archery would reduce the risk of accidents while playing.
Phub Dorji, one of the participants from the tournament, shared, “This is a first-ever tournament based on the international game standard. This can be an opportunity for the participants to get recognized for their talent to represent Bhutan on an international level. As a participant, I’m excited and preparing for the upcoming tournament as well.”
The Bhutan National Archery Tournament aims to promote and support such initiatives by providing attractive prizes for the winners, and selecting talented individuals to encourage them to participate at par with international standards.
In the tournament format, a team would consist of 5 members including 1 seeded, if any. Up to 2 archers are allowed to use sights and triggers or even if the whole team doesn’t wish to use them, it would be upon themselves, but Bow Drawing is not allowed in the tournament.
The tournament is open to all interested individuals, and does not have any gender or age categories.
The tournament will start from 27th January 2025 at the National Archery Stadium, Changlimithang, Thimphu.
