Sajjad hits history
Sajjad Hossain created a small piece of history when he became the first Bangladeshi archer to win a gold medal at an international tournament yesterday.
The unheralded archer from Chandpur defeated T Rangper of Iran to clinch the individual recurve 70m gold in the 4th Asian Archery Grand Prix Championship at Salt Lake City in Kolkata. Bangladesh also clinched the silver medal in the team event in a sport that started a quiet journey in 2006.
Sajjad was four points clear of his heavyweight Iranian counterpart after scoring 105 out of a maximum 120 points from 12 attempts.
"I feel really happy to see the national flag flying at an international tournament and hear the national anthem," Sajjad told the Daily Star Sport over phone in his immediate reaction.
Sajjad was hundred per cent perfect in seven of his 12 shots that eventually earned him the gold.
Sajjad's confidence was sky high after he beat world champion Rahul Rajib of India in the quarterfinal, although he admitted that he hadn't expected such a result against the world champion archer.
"After beating Rahul Rajib, I started to believe that I could do something in the tournament and crossed the semifinal hurdle defeating Biswas and then the dream came true in the final," said Sajjad.
The champion archer, however, said that he was confident of doing well in the tournament even before he left for Kolkata as he had good preparation at home where he shot highest 112 points.
Sajjad is optimistic that he would be able to carry his form into next year's South Asian (SA) Games at home.
The Bangladesh team comprising Noor-e-Alam, Imdadul Haq Milon and Zia-ul-Haq bagged silver in the team event with 209 points behind the Indian team that finished with 220 points.
Bangladesh's best success previously at an international archery tournament came in the 2006 SA Games in Colombo where Noor-e-Alam grabbed the individual silver medal and Bangladesh secured bronze in the same team event.
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