Four national recurve archers will represent Bhutan at the upcoming 2025 GYEYANG OPEN in South Korea. Preparations are in full swing at the Bhutan Archery Federation’s training ground at Langjophakha in Thimphu. Following the tournament in South Korea, the athletes will proceed to Singapore to compete in 2025 Asia Cup Stage 2 tournament.
The Bhutanese archery team has been training since the mid of this month for the two tournaments.
Bhutan’s team of four male archers will compete against top athletes from Asia and around the world.
They will travel to South Korea to compete in the tournament scheduled from May 20th to 25th.
The youngest among them is 19-year-old Sonam Penjor from Lhuentse, who completed Class 12 at Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School last year.
He began his archery journey in 2018 and has since participated in five international tournaments, including the Asian Archery Championships and the Asian Archery Cup.
“As I train more at the Bhutan Archery Federation, I gain more experience, and I have big expectations. In Korea as well, it is like a practice session for us, as we have to compete individually. I am hoping to gain more experience in that competition and perform well.”
Similarly, 20-year-old Karma Lhendrup from Sarpang began training with the archery federation in 2018. He is currently a Class 11 student at Yangchenphug Higher Secondary School. Earlier this year, he represented Bhutan at the Asia Cup.
“As South Korea has one of the best archers in the world, and when I get the opportunity to train with them, I will gain more confidence and experience. After getting trained there, I hope that I will be able to compete in the Asian Cup Stage 2. I have been practising well here and do whatever I can.”
Also on the team is 29-year-old Lam Dorji from Samdrup Jongkhar. A final-year student at Royal Thimphu College, he began training professionally in 2013 and has competed in about 20 international tournaments. He was a member of the Bhutanese team that won a bronze medal at the 13th South Asian Games in 2019.
“Because of my experience and from what I have been doing for our country for the past several years, I have experience and I hope that I can be a competent contender for them.”
And 34-year-old Kinley Tshering from Paro is the oldest among the archers. He has competed in over 20 international tournaments. He won a bronze and two silver medals at the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal. His archery career began in 2013.
“We have been training from 9 am to 5 pm for six days a week. We have about one month to participate in the tournament. After going there, I will practise like we have been doing here. I will use the techniques and skills that our coach taught us. We will play hard and hope to do well.”
Park Youngsook, the federation’s head coach from South Korea expressed confidence in their readiness and emphasised the significance of the upcoming tournaments.
“We selected four archers among six archers. Actually, in the Bangkok competition, Sonam Penjor performed very well at first. But during the competition, he got injured. So, this time all my archers have a good condition and good performance.”
The archers will compete in both individual and team events, facing qualification and knockout rounds.
Following the end of the 2025 GYEYANG OPEN, they will continue to train in Korea for three weeks. They will then travel to Singapore to take part in the 2025 Asia Cup Stage 2 which begins on June 15.
It is a standalone tournament but also contributes to world rankings, performance evaluation for national teams and preparation and qualification for larger events like the World Championships or Olympics.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Kipchu
