Bhutanese Archers Won Two Gold And A Silver Medal At the World Historical Archery Championship, Hungary
The World Historical Archery Championship was held at Gyula, Hungary from August 13 – 19.

By Nim Dorji | Kuensel
A team of traditional archers from Bhutan won two gold and a silver medal at the World Historical Archery Championship that was held at Gyula, Hungary from August 13 – 19.
Bhutan sent a team of five archers. Yonten Phuntsho and Damchoe Wangdi won a gold medal each. Yonten Phuntsho also received a special award separately.
Source: Beol.hu
Ugyen Dorji and Tshewang Dorji stood at the fourth and fifth position, winning a certificate each.
A total of 23 countries consisting of more than 300 archers participated in the championship.
The Bhutan Indigenous Games and Sports Association (BIGSA) applied for membership for the International Archery Association in 2016 and got registered in January 2018.
This is the second time that the traditional archers participated in the championship. No medals were won when three archers participated in the same tournament in 2016.
Future plans by the Bhutan Indigenous Games and Sports Association
The President of BIGSA, former Minister Kingzang Dorji said that the win is an important achievement for Bhutan and traditional archery. He said that the archers were selected based on their individual performance in the national archery tournament.
Source: BBS.BT
BIGSA, he said, is planning to organise an International Historical Archery Tournament in Bhutan sometime in mid-2019. “This will give more opportunities to many traditional archers in the country.”
At the championship, the archers participated in shooting the long distance target, short distance target, 3D archery and long distance height. Bhutanese archers performed well in the long distance target archery to bring home the medals.
Yonten Phuntsho, 29, said that he is happy and proud to win a gold for the country. He started playing traditional archery since 2015.
Another gold medallist, Damchoe Wangdi said that he had not expected to win and the victory came as a huge surprise.
This article first appeared in Kuensel and has been edited for the Daily Bhutan.