‘I felt like a beginner’
Without a bow and arrow for three months because of the coronavirus-induced halt in sports, Bangladesh's top archer Ruman Sana had begun to feel that he had moved away from the discipline. But the Olympics-qualified archer has once again started feeling at one with the sport after receiving the bow for home practice a few days ago.
Initially, archery was the country's only discipline where athletes kept up preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, which was later deferred to July next year despite the government announcing a halt on all sports activities on March 16, following the outbreak of coronavirus. Archers, however, were also forced to stop preparations at the Shaheed Ahsan Ullah Master Stadium in Tongi on March 25 so that the venue could be used by police to help the local administration to enforce the shutdown across the country.
Since then the national archers went back homes and continued physical training but the Bangladesh Archery Federation, in line with a recommendation from German coach Martin Fredrick, sent bows to 17 archers to practise at home.
"Having been detached from the bow and arrows for three months, it seems that I had moved away from archery, but now I once more feel close to the archery after receiving the bow on Thursday," Ruman Sana told The Daily Star over phone from Khulna yesterday.
"To be honest, I felt like a beginner on the first day [Thursday] because I could hardly pull the string after assembling the bow, which is nearly 7 kilogrammes. I could not even hold the bow for five seconds whereas I could hold it for 30 to 50 seconds before," Ruman said.
"I would not have been able to shoot the arrows if the Olympics had taken place as originally scheduled in late July," said a smiling Ruman, only the second athlete of the country to – and first archer -- to earn the right to take part in the Olympics directly.
While various other countries already starting their preparations for next year's Olympics as the outbreak has been curbed in those countries, the BAF cannot resume the national camp because of the worsening situation in Bangladesh, which is why the equipment was sent to archers.
"I am doing all types of practices related to the bow in our drawing room in Khulna. I have pulled the string of the bow several times, held the hand straight with bow and over the head, pulling back the string for few seconds, etc. as per recommendations from coach Fredrick." the 25-year-old said.
"I believe if we can continue the practice with bow regularly at home, then we may regain our performance levels within a month when we resume the national camp in Dhaka.
"In archery, the bow is more important than shooting arrows. If I have full control on the bow, then it is a matter of time to get adjusted with shooting arrows. Practising only with the bow will also strengthen us mentally. I think it would have been a big blow had we not gotten the opportunity to practise with bows during this period."
The SA Games gold-medallist also requested authorities concerned to resume preparations as soon as possible because the national players cannot concentrate on practice at home due to their daily engagement in family matters.
"The foreign archers have better facilities than us. They even have their own bow, arrows and target board to practise at home but I don't have that; instead, I am spending time with the neighbour's children on the rooftop," said Ruman. "I think it would be good if we resume practice at our venue [stadium in Tongi]. We also have accommodation facilities there, which is almost isolated, although police personnel are now staying there to maintain law and order amidst the coronavirus pandemic. If they leave, I think we can start preparations by taking the proper measures prescribed by World Archery, WHO and our government."
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