To showcase Bhutan’s national sport and enable Bhutanese archers to get exposures to various styles of traditional archery played in other countries, the first-ever International Archery Association (IAA)-Bhutan International Traditional Archery Tournament began in Thimphu today.
The four-day tournament will now continue at Paro from tomorrow. Over 100 archers from 10 different countries, aged between 7 to 70 are taking part in the event.
With approval and support from the IAA, Bhutan Indigenous Games and Sports Association (BIGSA) is organising the international event for the first time in Bhutan coinciding with the 64th birthday of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo.
“Archery is one of the seven national symbols of Bhutan. Archery is an expression of our Bhutanese way of life. It is also an expression of our identity and our sovereignty. And therefore, for Bhutan Olympic Committee and BIGSA, it’s a great honour to have traditional archers from as many as 10 countries participating in this event,” Kinzang Dorji, the President of BIGSA, said.
The competition is also expected to contribute to promoting Bhutan as a sporting destination.
Along with the inaugural of the tournament, the BIGSA also released the IAA-Bhutan International Traditional Archery Tournament Brochure and launched the BIGSA logo today.
Over the next three days of the competition participants will compete in five different categories of historical archery, historical flight shooting and long-distance target shooting, team competition, Bhutanese style archery team competition for foreigners and team competition for Bhutanese archers.
The tournament will end on Thursday.
Passang Dorji
