Archers Diya Siddique and Ruman Shana will fight against Gabriela Schloesser and Sjef Van Den Berg of the Netherlands on Sunday at the second stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup in the recurve mixed team final which is Bangladesh's first-ever international gold medal match .
The final will be telecast live on Sony Six at 3.29PM (Bangladesh Standard Time). Win or lose, with a guaranteed silver this is Bangladesh’s best international result to date.
The pair defeated Canada’s Stephanie Barrett and Brian Maxwell, 5-3, in the semifinals on Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland .
“I‘m so excited – I don’t even understand it’s a final,” Diya said. “It’s so shocking!”
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The duo will compete for the gold on Sunday against Gabriela Schloesser and Sjef Van Den Berg of the Netherlands. Denmark and the Netherlands will shoot for compound mixed team gold on Saturday.
Ruman, who qualified Bangladesh its first quota place for an Olympic Games at the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championships in ’s-Hertogenbosch, continued his series of trailblazing performances for his country in Switzerland. There, he beat experienced Italian Mauro Nespoli in the bronze medal match and put Bangladesh on the championship podium for the first time.
Two years and a pandemic later, he continues to press Bangladesh on the archery map even further.
“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s the first time Bangladesh made the final,” Ruman said. “I’m really happy and grateful to my coach, my teachers, my family and my partner, who was supporting me so much.”
Bangladesh’s final is no fluke. The pair were excellent in matchplay.
Ruman and Diya beat top-seeded Germany, 5-1, in the second round and then Spain in a shoot-off. They shot a perfect set of 40 points in the semifinal against Canada and looked like they belonged throughout, despite being the technical underdogs.
As the number 17 seed, the duo will have to pull off one last upset – against the second-seeded Netherlands – to capture the gold.
“We know we are a good team, and this can help us in the Olympic preparations,” Gaby Schloesser said. “I can say that I’m really happy, and I can see Sjef is also. I’m already excited about Sunday.”
This Dutch partnership took a bronze medal at the last world championships.