SHANA wins Bangladesh first world ranking gold

Md. Ruman SHANA beat men’s Olympic silver medallist Takahara FURUKAWA (JPN) in the quarters and showed perseverance with a semifinal single-arrow shoot-off win. Matched up in the final against Russian recurve Bair TSYBEKDORZHIEV, he wasn’t perfect – but consistent.

Three of SHANA’s sets totalled just 26 points, while his Russian opponent started with a 29. It put the athlete from Bangladesh 3-1 down at the halfway point.

But while TSYBEKDORZHIEV struggled with wind and keeping his arrows inside the red, SHANA’s groups were tighter. Two set wins in a row reversed the advantage, and he sealed a well-deserved gold medal in a last-set draw, 6-4.

All three members of Bangaldesh’s recurve men’s team finished in the top 16 at this Asian Grand Prix, and the team qualified an impressive fifth before losing a quarterfinal shoot-off to Russia.

It’s clear improvement for a nation that’s had a number of international coaches in recent years. Richard PRIESTMAN was there before moving to South America (he is now Brazil’s head coach) – but the team’s success in Bangkok has the fingerprints of Korean coach Park, who has been working with Bangladesh for the last month.

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