BAF moving ahead against all adversity
Dhaka is bracing for another international sporting carnival in the form of the Asian Archery Championship, which begins at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) on November 25.
Although an international event of this repute evokes frantic activities from organisers and sponsors alike, the Bangladesh Olympic Association Auditorium was quite an exception yesterday when the Bangladesh Archery Federation (BAF), the hosts of the meet, officially disclosed the competition details and announced a national team with Asian Archery Federation general secretary Sung-Ho-Um in attendance.
For a young federation, established only in 2001, it was a quite a challenging media session. And the job at hand for them is more challenging with the knowledge that they will get the BNS -- the premier venue of the country now hosting the Bangladesh Premier League – today.
It is something extraordinary that the organisers will get the venue for an international event only one day before the tournament. Besides, there has been little effort from the National Sports Council, who owns this all-purpose venue, to create a healthy and sporting atmosphere around a venue located in the commercial hub of the capital. There are a few co-sponsors for the event, but understandably no lead sponsor as the game has little commercial value.
Ask the organisers and they will tell you that a couple of teams have arrived but most of the participating nations are either on their way or have just confirmed their flight schedule. Ask them if the event at a venue which is prone to serious noise pollution will affect the performance of the players, including a couple of Olympic gold winners, and they will tell you that 'it was an issue 20 years ago but not now'. Not only that, the Asian Archery Federation will hold its General Council at a posh city hotel today, where they will elect the new executive committee for the next four years.
It is quite the adversity a young federation has been facing. But the most heartening aspect is the steely determination from a committed federation, duly backed by its Asian bosses, to overcome the adversity and make it an occasion to celebrate. The BAF has made significant strides and has won a few laurels, but also made an honest statement when confronted with the obvious question: whether the target is to win a medal.
"The Asian Championship is as good as the World Championship. Our target is to make it to the quarterfinals," BAF general secretary Razib Uddin Ahmed Chapal told reporters while adding that they have ensured doping test facilities from a sparring budget.
While detailing the tournament schedule, the BAF general secretary said that of the 35 participating nations, 32 had confirmed their arrival. A total of 400 archers, including 161 women, will fight it out for glory in ten events.
"This is an amazing figure," Sung said in his brief speech.
He also delivered the most inspiring remark after complying with official photographs along with the members of the Bangladesh archery team after the briefing.
"How old are you? Sixteen?" Sung asked a girl standing behind him. "Fifteen," responded the girl.
"You will be playing perhaps one of the best in the world in the eliminator round because in archery a gold winner starts from scratch. If you are good and beat the opponent, you can pull off the biggest surprise," said Sung.
Truly inspiring for a young federation and its younger brigade!
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