Young archers aim high as camp begins

Umme Sumaiya Saral, a class eight student of Kurigram Government High School aspires to achieve overseas glory in archery and this has motivated her to attend the training initiated by the Bangladesh Archery Federation at the Army Aviation Complex yesterday. A total of 20 young archers from across the country were selected by the archery federation for the U-16 level training and Saral, who was discovered in a talent hunting program last year, was given an opportunity to achieve her dreams.  “I am confident that I can go ahead. I have successfully passed the tests I have participated till date,” said Saral, visibly the youngest of the 10 girls present. There are also two indigenous male archers at the camp. Bhanrum Bom and Premmoy Murong both hail from Bandarban and were hopeful of progressing further in the discipline as they felt archery was part of their heritage. Nishit Das, a coach who has been training archers for the last ten years, said three boys and three girls will be selected for advanced training as part of the national team. They will be groomed for the next youth Olympics, he added. The training was inaugurated by Lt. General Md. Moinul Islam, the president of the archery federation. Kazi Razivudddin Chapal, the general secretary of the federation, and other federation officials were also present on the occasion.  Meanwhile, Bangladesh Archery Federation named Javed Alam, Durul Huda and Jahangir Alam as their representatives at the Asian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to be held in Mongolia from July 27.