The 24th Teer Asian Archery Championship concluded in Dhaka. In the competition, Bangladesh won two medals in two events, competing against India and South Korea. Himu Bachhar and Bannya Akter won silver in the compound mixed team event. And in the compound women’s individual event, Kulsum Akter Moni won bronze.

The government has announced that each of the three archers who won medals in the competition will receive 1 million taka. Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan made the announcement on Friday (14 November) after the prize-giving ceremony on the closing day.

After the prize-giving ceremony, Asif Mahmud said, “To win a gold medal in the Olympics, you need the same facilities as those you are competing against. In that case, with the capacity our Ministry of Youth and Sports has, we will support them accordingly. It is true that although our country is one of the most populated countries in the world, we do not yet have an Olympic gold. But I hope that through archery we will win a gold.”

Speaking about Bangladesh’s medal success in the Asian Archery Championship, he said, “I want to make an announcement through this event—the three people who won medals for Bangladesh in this competition, we, on behalf of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, are announcing a reward of 1 million taka for each of them.”

Reacting to such a declaration, medalist (silver) Bannya Akter said, “This announcement is truly the happiest news. It will increase our interest in archery even more. We will be able to become more focused.”

She also said, “Not only that, many people may leave archery and go abroad, and such possibilities will now decrease. Overall, I am very happy to hear about such a financial reward.”

On 8 November, the World Archery Asia Congress was held in Dhaka. In the election, Bangladesh’s founding general secretary of archery, Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol, was elected for the first time, defeating South Korea’s Thomas Han by 29–9 votes.

Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Bhuiyan expressed his happiness over Bangladesh’s leadership achievement in world archery. After the prize-giving ceremony of the 24th Teer Asian Archery Championship, he greeted Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed with flowers and congratulated him.