Bangladesh will send a 12-member archery team to Iraq on Thursday, targeting medals at the Asia Cup, Stage II, a World Ranking Tournament, scheduled to be held in Sulaymaniyah from 24 to 29 October.
The squad comprises six men and six women, who will compete in recurve and compound individual events, recurve team events and recurve and compound mixed team events.
Bangladesh Archery Federation (BAF) president Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol expressed optimism about the team’s prospects, saying preparations had gone well.
“The experience gained at the Asian Games will be useful here. To motivate the archers, the federation has announced a cash reward of Tk300000 for each gold medal. InshaAllah, we expect a good result,” Chapol said on Wednesday.
Head coach Martin Frederick said the archers had worked to regain their form after the Asian Games and were ready to compete for podium finishes in the team and mixed team events.
Abdur Rahman Alif said the team was determined to make amends for its disappointing Asian Games performance. Despite limited preparation time, the archers had posted encouraging scores in the trials, and he hoped they could maintain that form in Iraq.
Compound archer Himu Bashar said preparations had gone well for the individual, team and mixed team events despite the limited practice time.
Bannya Akter said the archers had continued training since the Asian Games and would fight for gold medals, hoping to return home with a strong result and bring pride to the country.