Bangladesh endured a disappointing second session on Monday at the Teer 24th Asian Archery Championships 2025 after losing the bronze battle against Iran at the National Stadium, Dhaka.
The women’s compound team, comprised Bonna Akter, Kulsum Akter, and Pushpita Zaman, fell short of securing the bronze medal, losing rhythm at the final stretch. In a thrilling contest, Bangladesh lost to Iran by 227–224 (54–56, 58–56, 57–57, 55–58).
Bangladesh made a promising start in the women’s compound team event. In the opening phase of the elimination round, they defeated Kazakhstan 230–226 (57–57, 57–56, 59–58, 58–55) to reach the semi-finals. However, in the semis, the team went down to India 234–227 (58–54, 58–56, 59–58, 59–59). The semi-final defeat set up a bronze medal play-off against Iran.
Expressing her frustration after missing out on the target against Iran, Bonna said, “If we had started better, we could have won the match. Our team had played against Iran on this ground before — I wasn’t part of that match, but we lost then too. This time I was determined to win. There was some wind, but it didn’t have much impact. We weren’t under pressure. I was even telling my teammates, ‘We’re going to win a medal this time,’ but it didn’t happen.”
Iran claimed their first medal of the tournament. In the women’s compound team final, India will face South Korea on Thursday.
In the recurve men’s team event, Bangladesh started well but couldn’t maintain consistency. The team of Sagor Islam, Rakib Mia, and Ram Krishna Saha swept past Vietnam 6–0 (55–52, 53–52, 56–52) in the opening round of the elimination phase. However, in the battle for a semi-final spot, Bangladesh lost to South Korea 5–3 (53–53, 55–53, 54–59, 54–56).
In the bronze medal match of the men’s recurve team event, Uzbekistan defeated Kazakhstan 5–3 (56–60, 57–54, 53–53, 57–56), claiming the first medal of the ongoing championships. South Korea and India will contest the gold medal match on Friday.
Earlier in the morning session, Bangladesh’s all four female recurve archers won their respective matches in the round of 1/24.
Sonali Roy defeated Kazakhstan’s Diana Tursunbek by 6-5 set points (27-27, 25-25, 28-25, 27-29, 26-26). Sima Akter Shimu overcame another Kazakh opponent, Yelizaveta Avdeyeva, 6-4 (26-29, 26-15, 24-20, 23-26, 21-26). Ety Khatun edged past Malaysia’s Mashayikh Syaqiera 6-4 (24-28, 29-26, 27-21, 26-28, 28-26) while Monira Akter triumphed over China’s Cai Yufeng 7-3 (26-29, 27-24, 24-26, 26-26, 23-30).
Aiming to maintain her form, Ety said: “All of us did well; we were confident from the start. We just wanted to enjoy the competition. We’re not feeling any pressure, and I hope to continue this success in the next rounds.”
In the recurve men’s individual, Rakib Mia, who received a bye in the opening stage, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Liu Tai-Yen 6-4 (25-26, 26-26, 28-27, 28-28, 27-29) to advance to the Round of 1/16, where he will face Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge of India.
Abdur Rahman Alif, who also earned a bye to reach the Round of 1/24, staged an impressive fight to beat Malaysia’s Muhammad Haiqal Danish Syamsul Affandi 6-5 (27-29, 27-27, 25-27, 30-28, 29-23). He will now face South Korea’s Jang Jiho in the next round for a place in the last 16.
After receiving a bye, Sagor Islam was unable to overcome Vietnam’s Le Quoc Phong, losing 6-4 (29-26, 25-28, 29-27, 27-28, 27-24).
Ram Krishna Saha, who had byes through the 1/48 and 1/24 rounds, will begin his 1/16 campaign on Tuesday against Vietnam’s Le Quoc Phong.
In the compound men’s individual, it was not a favourable day for the Bangladeshi archers, as three of them were eliminated in the Round of 1/24.
Having received a bye, Himu Bachhar will make his first appearance on Tuesday in the Round of 1/16 against Bhutan’s Gaytshey Tshetum.
In the compound women’s individual, among Bangladesh’s four competitors, only Mithila Akter competed on Monday. She bowed out after a hard-fought 138-139 defeat (28-28, 28-29, 27-28, 27-25, 29-28) to Saudi Arabia’s Kaabi Raghad Ismail.
The other three Bangladeshi archers advanced directly to the Round of 1/16 with byes.
