Bangladesh reach two gold-medal matches at Asia Cup archery

Bangladesh’s recurve men’s and compound women’s teams have advanced to their respective finals at the 2026 Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament Leg II in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, putting the country in contention for two gold medals.

The recurve men’s team, comprising Abdur Rahman Alif, Md Sagor Islam and Abdullah Al Mohammad Rafi, stormed into the final with a commanding 6-0 victory over Uzbekistan in the semifinals. They will face Kazakhstan in the gold-medal match.

The compound women’s team of Bonna Akter, Sriparna Biswas and Kulsum Akter Moni also secured a place in the final after defeating Sri Lanka 233-219. They will take on Kazakhstan for the title.

Bangladesh’s archers have enjoyed an impressive start to the tournament, topping the qualification standings in both the compound men’s and women’s individual events.

Nawaz Ahmed Rakib claimed the top seed in the compound men’s qualification with 693 points, finishing ahead of Kazakhstan’s Pavel Kuznetsov. Fellow Bangladeshi Himu Bachhar also produced a strong performance, securing fourth place.

In the compound women’s qualification, Bonna topped the standings with 696 points, ahead of Iraq’s Fatimah Saad AlMashhadani, who scored 693. Kazakhstan’s Elmira Raissova finished third with 685 points.

Alif also impressed in the recurve men’s qualification, finishing third with 657 points. Iran’s Mohammadhossein Golshani Asl led the standings with 670 points, followed by Nicholas D’Amour of the United States with 661.

Bangladesh entered the second leg on the back of a historic achievement at the opening leg in Bangkok, where the compound men’s team clinched the country’s first-ever Asia Cup gold medal in the event.

Rakib and Bachhar were members of that gold-winning side and will be hoping to build on their success in Sulaymaniyah.

The second leg of the 2026 Asia Cup is taking place from October 24 to 29, with participating archers competing for medals and valuable world-ranking points.