On the third morning of the Teer 24th Asian Archery Championships 2025 at the Bangladesh National Stadium, all eyes were on Kulsum Akter Moni, who kept the host nation’s hopes alive by advancing to the semi-finals of the women’s compound individual event.
The archer from Thakurgaon delivered a composed and confident display, defeating Iran’s Fatemeh Bagheri 145–143, India’s Deepshikha 142–140, and Kazakhstan’s Roxana Yunussova 146–144 in the quarter-finals. She will face India’s Prithika Pradeep in the semi-final on Thursday, with a spot in the final up for grabs.
“All my teammates have been eliminated, but I don’t feel any pressure,” said Kulsum. “We’ve trained hard for this moment. I play for this flag — there’s a special peace in representing your country.”
She added, “I don’t want social media fame or highlights. I want recognition through performance and success. When people know me for my merit, that will be my real reward.”
Bangladesh’s other compound archers bowed out earlier. Pushpita Zaman won a thrilling tie-break against South Korea’s Park Jungyoon (142–142, 10–10+) before narrowly losing 145–143 to Yunussova. Bonna Akter fell 141–139 to Iran’s Bita Oskouei Asheghzadeh, while Himu Bachhar lost 143–141 to Bhutan’s Gaytshey Tshetum in the men’s compound event.
In the men’s recurve individual category, Rakib Mia showed promise, defeating opponents from Chinese Taipei and India before losing a close 6–4 contest to South Korea’s Jang Chaehwan. Abdur Rahman Alif also reached the 1/8 stage after two victories but exited against Kazakhstan’s Ilfat Abdullin.
The women’s recurve team — Ety Khatun, Sonali Roy, and Sima Akter Shimu — advanced to the quarter-finals by beating Iran 5–4 before losing 6–0 to South Korea.
Despite mixed results across events, Kulsum’s steady progress has injected renewed optimism into Bangladesh’s campaign, as the hosts continue to chase a podium finish on home soil.
