BAF backtracks over resumption of camp

With the coronavirus situation in the country deteriorating, the Bangladesh Archery Federation (BAF) decided to backtrack on their earlier decision of restarting preparation for Tokyo Olympics from July 1. The federation has instead decided to distribute bows among the national archers to help them practice at home.

As the government allowed different offices to reopen from May 31 in limited scales following a two-month shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the game's local governing body also decided in principle to resume their Olympics preparation with 28 archers and officials in Tongi, subject to the approval from the government, before eventually changing their decision.

"We changed our mind as e think it won't be wise to take the risk at the moment because the archers are like our children," BAF general secretary Kazi Razib Uddin Ahmed Chapal told The Daily Star.

"We have already lost a few months which are not recoverable. But we want to wait for another month to observe the situation. We, however, believe that we can get the approval from sports minister to resume the camp," said Chapal.

"Following advice from our coach [Martin Frederick], I have discussed with our president (BAF president M Moinul Islam) to send equipment without the arrows to the players, so that they can maintain their strength of hands by pulling out the strings of the bow. Such type of training is taking place aboard amidst the coronavirus pandemic. We will send the bows to the national players except for those who are in services teams," said the BAF general secretary.

"We are also thinking of sending target board and arrows to archers who have open space of about 10 metres at their own backyard. As there is risk in throwing arrows and practising in personal space, we will definitely look into the safety of other family members and take approval from the National Sports Council before sending arrows and target boards to the archers," said Chapal.

Chapal, meanwhile, said that, subject to government's approval, the federation still plans to stage the World Archery-sanctioned joint training camp in Bangladesh in late November with archers from six to 10 countries participating.

The BAF also wants to hold the Bangabandhu ISSF Solidarity Archery Championships from February 22-28 but everything will depend on the improvement of the situation.