Bangladesh’s archers made history by reaching the final of the recurve men’s team and recurve mixed team events at the 2024 Asia Cup Stage-1 in Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday. The Bangladesh team, led by Olympian Ruman Sana, defeated Uzbekistan by 5-2 sets in the recurve men’s team semifinal, setting up a clash with India in the final on Sunday, February 25th.

This is the first time that Bangladesh has reached the final of a World world-ranking tournament in archery, which is also a qualifying event for the 2024 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Bangladesh had previously won a bronze medal in the recurve men’s team event at the 2019 Asia Cup Stage-3 in Taiwan.

In the recurve mixed team event, Sagor Islam and Diya Siddique, who were part of the Under-19 World Cup-winning team in 2020, also beat Uzbekistan by 5-3 sets in the semifinal. They will face India in the final on Sunday, in what will be a rematch of the 2019 South Asian Games final, where Bangladesh lost to India by a narrow margin.

However, Bangladesh’s recurve women’s team and compound mixed team could not make it to the final, as they lost to Uzbekistan and India respectively in the semifinals. The recurve women’s team, featuring Diya Siddique, Sima Akter Shimu and Famida Sultana Nisho, put up a brave fight but went down by 3-5 sets. They will play for the bronze medal against Iraq on Sunday.

The compound mixed team, comprising of Newaz Amed Rakib and Shamoly Roy, also missed out on the final, as they lost to India by 145-151 in the semifinal. They will compete for the bronze medal against Iraq on Saturday.

The Bangladesh archery team, which consists of 12 archers and four officials, is participating in the Asia Cup Stage-1 to improve their world rankings and gain experience for the upcoming Asian Games3. The team is coached by German Martin Frederick and assisted by Ziaul Haque. The team will return home on March 1.