Sikkim archers shoot into quarterfinals of prestigious Bhutan tourney

GANGTOK, 17 Aug: A six-member team of archers from the state – ‘United Sikkim’ - has reached the quarterfinals of one of the biggest archery contests of Bhutan, the 18th Yangphel Open Archery Tournament, being held in Thimphu, Bhutan. The tourney had started on 11 July and the finals are scheduled for 30 August.
The tournament is being held in the traditional format with Compound bows. In the traditional format the target is set at a distance of 145 meters and no aiming devices or any other type of aid is allowed. In the modern format, however, the target is set at 50 meters distance and archers use aiming devices and triggers as well.
Out of 250 teams, 24 have reached the quartersfinals where each match will be played between three teams. Four teams from Sikkim had entered the tournament out of which only United Sikkim got through the qualifying round and knock-out stage to enter the quarter final round.
The team also outperformed others hitting the most number of karis [hits on target] in the league stage.
This tournament is organised every year in Bhutan during this time when it is off-season for tourism. This means a large number of participants as well as spectators. The Sikkim teams always draw large crowds in such tournaments and this time, topping the league stage in terms of the number of karis, has got a lot of Bhutanese curious to see how this Sikkim team performs.