Bhutan secured five silver and one bronze medal at the Bhutan Grand Prix finals held today in the capital. More than 40 archers from Bhutan and India competed in the two-day tournament across different categories.
Bhutan won silver medals in the Men’s Compound Team, Women’s Compound Team, Mixed Team Compound, Recurve Men’s Team, and Women’s Compound individual events.
Sonam Dema claimed three silver medals. Although she has represented Bhutan several times in recurve archery, this was her first time competing in the compound category.
She said, “It went well today. It was my first time competing in the mixed team and individual compound categories. I’m happy to achieve this after just two to three months of practice. In the future, I will perform even better and aim for gold by learning from today’s mistakes and training harder.”
Chogzang Thai Rigden won gold after defeating Pelden Wangchuk in the final of the newly introduced Upcoming Archer category. The category was created for Bhutanese compound archers with no prior international exposure to help encourage and nurture emerging talent for long-term athlete development in the country.
“It was my first time participating in the tournament, and I am very happy to have won a gold medal in the beginner category. I hope to compete in international matches in the future, so I am training hard to achieve that goal,” said Chogzang Thai Rigden.
Tika Ram Galley also received a special award in recognition of being the only para-archer in the tournament.
“I am very happy that I got this opportunity to participate with everyone in the Bhutan Grand Prix. I would like to encourage other persons with disabilities to come forward and show their talent,” said Tika Ram Ghalley.
The Indian team claimed the rolling trophy after winning most of the categories.
Namgay Wangdi
