Coronation Silver Jubilee Archery Tournament

There was an air of suspense and excitement at the Changlimithang archery range yesterday, when 11 men dressed not in gho but similar to gho entered the range carrying bows and arrows.

The archers from Sikkim, the only team outside Bhutan competing in the Coronation Silver Jubilee tournament got the loudest cheer, but could not live up to the expectation of the spectators, who supported them throughout.

Their opponent Karma TMT beat them in two straight sets. It was also one of the few games that took only one day to decide. In the first set, Sikkim managed 10 points and they were slightly better in the second set with 17 points. “I thought they’d get nothing,” said a spectator, Nima from Chang Olakha. “It was a surprise, a good game, given that they are competing for the first time,” he said.

At the end of the game, around 4:30, there were no angry losers or proud winners, as the two teams got together and danced forming a big circle. The general secretary of Sikkim archery association, Dr KB Gurung, said that they came to Bhutan on the invitation of BAF. “Today wasn’t our day, but we should accept that our opponent was better. We’ll come back stronger next year.”

Dr Gurung said that winning or losing didn’t matter to them. “We participated to further the friendship and cooperation we have with Bhutan,” he said.

Meanwhile, players said that they have learnt some lessons to improve their skills. “In Sikkim, our target is double the size of targets here and the distance is 130 m and not 145 m. We’ll change and follow Bhutanese rules,” said a player. Source: Kuenselonline