Md Ruman Shana wrote his name into Bangladeshi sporting history by claiming a bronze medal at the World Archery Championship in the Netherlands, becoming the first archer from Bangladesh to stand on the podium at the event.
The 24-year-old from Khulna beat Italy’s Mauro Nespoli 7-1 in set points in the bronze medal match of the men’s recurve event. Ruman took the opening set 28-27, won the second 29-28, and then held firm after Nespoli levelled the third set at 29-29 apiece. Needing just one more set point from the remaining two sets, Ruman scored 29 against Nespoli’s 27 to seal the win comfortably.
The field he competed in was formidable. He faced 200 archers from 92 countries, including powerhouse nations such as South Korea, the Netherlands, the United States, China, Chinese Taipei, and India.
Ruman had already secured his place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by finishing in the top four at the championship. He had previously won gold medals at the First Asian Archery Grand Prix in 2014 and at an international tournament in Kyrgyzstan in 2017, along with silver medals at the ISSF Islamic Solidarity Archery Championships and the Asia Cup Stage-1 earlier in 2019. But this bronze at the World Championship surpassed all of those, marking a new high point for Bangladeshi archery on the global stage.