Bhutan’s archery team has reached the semifinals for the first time at the international level. The team is currently competing at the 2026 Asia Cup–World Ranking Tournament, Stage I in Bangkok, Thailand.
In the compound men category, Bhutan’s run to the semifinals included a strong 230–227 win over second-ranked Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.
The team also delivered an impressive 232–214 victory over Macau, China matching their record score.
Bhutan later lost to Bangladesh 232–228 in a closely contested semifinal. A total of 10 teams from 10 countries competed in the compound category.
Bhutan then finished fourth after a close defeat to India in the bronze medal match.
Kezang Norbu, an archer said, “Our team got opportunity to compete till the semifinals and bronze medal match. This is a proud moment for us and we have also gained confidence and inspiration. Moreover, we have gained courage as we can perform better than this in the future. We also got courage to perform well in the individual elimination round. We are thankful to the Bhutan Olympic Committee, Bhutan Archery Federation, coaches and management.”
In the recurve category, Bhutan’s men’s team exited after a tight match against Mongolia. The match ended 5–5, before Mongolia edged Bhutan 28–27 in the shoot-off. There were 12 teams competing in this category.
Kinley Tshering, an archer said, “I was not able to perform well in the qualification round as I expected. In the individual and team events, I was able to perform as expected. After returning to Bhutan, I will improve by training more. Training is very important and we need to train more.”
In the individual event, Kezang Norbu lost 146–142 to his opponent from Singapore, while Tandin Dorji went down 145–141 against his opponent from Thailand.
In the compound mixed team event, Bhutan will face Singapore in the opening round tomorrow.
Nearly 200 archers from 20 countries, are taking part in the tournament. The week-long tournament will conclude on Friday.
Officials say the performance reflects the team’s determination and signals steady progress on the international stage.
Karma Wangdi
