Bangladesh Wins Gold in Asian Archery, Alif Makes History

Bangladesh’s Abdur Rahman Alif ended a six-year drought by clinching gold in the men’s recurve event at the Asian Archery Championship held in Singapore on Friday. The 19-year-old defeated Japan’s Gakuto Miyato 6-4 in set points in a thrilling final, securing Bangladesh’s second-ever individual gold in Asian archery.

Ranked 180th in the world in men’s recurve, Alif became only the second Bangladeshi archer to claim an Asian-level gold, following Roman Sana’s victory in the 2019 Asia Cup Archery Leg-3.

The final at Bukit Gombak Stadium saw Alif start strongly, winning the first two sets with scores of 28-27 and a one-point margin in the second. Miyato fought back, taking the third and fourth sets, but Alif sealed the victory in the decisive fifth set with a 29-26 scoreline.

Alif’s journey to the final began on June 16 with a bye into the elimination round. He advanced by defeating China’s Alin 6-2, Malaysia’s Muhammad Shafiq 6-4, and Chinese Taipei’s Li Kai-Yen 7-3 to secure a semi-final spot. In the semi-final, Alif overcame Chinese Taipei’s Chen Pin-An in a tense match, recovering from losses in the second and third sets to win the fourth (29-25) and fifth (28-27) sets, earning his place in the final.

This gold marks Alif’s first individual medal in archery. Despite competing in events like the Archery World Cup, Asian Archery, and Asia Cup, he had yet to make a significant mark until this historic win.

The second leg of the 2025 Asia Cup Archery, which began on June 16, saw 213 archers from 21 countries compete over five days. Bangladesh fielded 11 archers across the men’s and women’s recurve and compound events.