Ahmed Shakil earned Bangladesh its first gold medal in any international pistol event in more than two decades when he clinched top spot in the men’s 50m pistol category in Guwahati, India yesterday.
It was Bangladesh’s fourth gold in the 12th South Asian Games and the first from a male participant after Mahfuza Khatun Shila’s two in swimming and Mabia Akhter Simanta’s one in weightlifting.
The Games’ shooting discipline got underway yesterday and Shakil made it a day to remember as he scored a total of 187.6 to finish top, ahead of India’s silver-winner Prakash Om (187.3) and Pakistan’s Khan Kalimullah (165.9), who ended at third place.
“I am very happy and cannot express it in words. I never thought of winning gold in reality but my effort was no less than to achieve the best result,” said an emotional Shakil after the victory.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh women’s archery team won silver in the recurve mixed team event. The women in red and green lost to India in the final while the men’s side claimed bronze.
In the meantime, Bangladesh wushu team attained bronze on the sixth day of the Games while three more bronze were bagged by the Bangladesh swimmers yesterday, including Mahfizur Rahman Shakil’s third-placed finish in the men’s 100m freestyle.
Bangladesh men face Nepal today
Bangladesh team will take on Nepal in their second group stage match today. After being to a 1-1 draw by Bhutan, a draw in today’s game would be more than enough for the men in red and green to move to the semi-finals.