Archery the new attraction

The Maulana Bhasani National Stadium attired a completely different look on Thursday with archers lining up to show their skills in the 8th Bangladesh Games. Photo: Star

The Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday attained a festive mood. Hockey competitions had finished on the day before, and archery took its place. Half of the turf was occupied by hundreds of archers -- from school kids to professionals -- honing their skills ahead of the main competition.
Laboni Akter, a nondescript school girl from Barisal, came along with five of her teammates to have their first experience of competitive archery, just a year after taking up the arrow and the bow. All excited at being part of this extravaganza, Laboni felt this was a sport which suited her and she took up the game as soon as she was introduced.
“This is quite different from other sports as it is quite serene and you do not have to do any running or jumping. There was a talent hunt held in Barisal last year where I took part from my school and after that I attended a one-month course in BKSP last year. I'm not thinking much about medals, as I am new in this sport,” said the 14-year old girl.
In fact, this sport itself is still in its nascent stage as it was introduced less than a decade ago. Introduced with an attempt to see where it gets to, the sport has generated a lot of interest in the meantime, especially after Imdadul Haque Milon won gold in the Youth Commonwealth Games in 2009.
Bangladesh Archery Federation, has in the meantime, run talent hunt programmes across the country in schools and colleges which attracted many to take up the game. The result is, a total of 237 archers are taking part in this Bangladesh Games, in three events -- bamboo bow, recurve bow and compound bow.
Milon himself is there alongside the newbies. A London Olympian, Milon felt enthusiastic to see so many archers gathered there.
“I am feeling as excited as the kids, because this is the biggest congregation of archery in the country,” said Milon who will be participating in the 70m recurve bow event.
Federation's coach Nishith Das, who has conducted talent hunt programmes in 10 districts last year, said he was encouraged to see the feedback.
“We have gone to educational institutions as this is a scientific game and you need some educational background to do well here. Another important thing is having a cool mind,” said Das, who is working as the coach of Bangladesh Army here.
The archery federation has been an important factor in all these. Unlike any other federation, they have arranged for accommodation, food and transport of the archers. A five-storied building in Basabo is being used to accommodate the archers where they get their transportation, to and from the venue. The young archers might have to sleep on the floor, and the food might not be of the best quality, but they were not complaining about it, rather they were happy to be part of the show and looking to excel.