Leh, June 23: The 2nd Open Traditional Archery Championship officially commenced today at Sumoor, with Hon’ble Councillor Shri Rigzen Lundup inaugurating the event as the Chief Guest. Shri L.P. Namgail, President of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, Nubra, graced the occasion as the Guest of Honour.
The opening ceremony was also attended by other distinguished guests, including Shri Ringchen Wangdus, President of the Archery Association Nubra; Jasminder Pal Singh, President of the Indovedic Traditional Archery Association; Ratiu Raj Jamal; and Shri Rigzen Tsephal, Namabadar of Sumoor.
The championship is being organised by the Indovedic Traditional Archery Association in collaboration with LAHDC Leh and SOT Sumoor. This year’s event has drawn a total of 83 participants from various countries including Bhutan, Malaysia, Germany, and different parts of India, making it a truly international celebration of traditional archery.
For the first time in India, Flight Archery was introduced as a part of this championship. The event was contested in two categories based on bow poundage, above 50-pound and below 50-pound bows.
In the above 50-pound category, Mr. HJ Ismail Bin Kadini from Malaysia emerged victorious by shooting his arrow to an impressive distance of 336 meters. In the below 50-pound category, Jasminder Pal Singh from Mohali (Punjab) claimed first place with the longest shot measuring 342.6 meters. In the women’s category, the winner was Noor Laila Ramli Binti from Malaysia, who achieved a top distance of 215 meters.
In addition to Flight Archery, long-distance target events were also held at varying ranges. The Sikkim/Bhutanese target was placed at 140 meters, the Turkish Puta target at 70 meters, and the Indian Dhaal target at 45 meters, each celebrating a different regional tradition of the sport.
The championship will conclude tomorrow with short-distance target events. The combined scores from the long- and short-distance rounds will determine the overall winners of the tournament.
