Shana wins Bangladesh’s third international gold medal with victory at Asia Cup
Ruman Shana defeated Shi Zhenqi of China, 7-3, to take recurve men’s gold at the third leg of the 2019 Asia Cup in the Philippines and become the first archer from Bangladesh to win a continental tournament in five years. (Shana previously won an Asia Cup event in 2014 and Sajjad Hossain had success on the Asian Grand Prix in 2009.)
“This is really good. I’m so happy. I always just try to follow my shooting timing and do the same thing. I found a good rhythm and I’m so happy,” he said.
“When I’m going to a final, it’s the same timing system and scoring at the Olympics. This kind of competition gives me confidence and makes me feel good things about Tokyo.”
Shana has had a brilliant season.
He came third at the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships, taking his country’s first medal in the history of the event and qualifying an Olympic space for Tokyo, and is up to 13th in the world rankings.
The 24-year-old won three medals in total in the Philippines.
As well as individual gold, Shana was a member of Bangladesh’s silver-medal-winning recurve men’s team and bronze medallist recurve mixed team.
“It’s a very happy thing for me. It is a very happy thing for Bangladesh. We are trying to promote Bangladesh on the world stage and to earn medals. We hope we can keep this up,” he said.
It is undoubtedly Bangladesh’s best international result to date.
China won the other four gold medals available on recurve finals day at the Asia Cup.
Zhang Xinyan defeated teammate Cao Hui in the recurve women’s gold medal match, 6-2. It is the 24-year-old’s second title at a continental event having won the all-important Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018.
“Today is really amazing for me. I’m not only happy but I got more experience which is useful for my future. To be frank, my goal is a medal in Tokyo,” she said.
Athletes from Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Myanmar also climbed the podium after recurve finals.
The third leg of the 2019 Asia Cup takes place on 8-15 September in Clark City, Philippines.
