United News of Bangladesh

Historic Feats on the World Stage When Mohammad Ruman Shana stepped onto the global archery stage, few expected a Bangladeshi to challenge the sport’s giants. But in 2019, he proved everyone wrong by clinching a bronze medal at the World Archery Championships, Bangladesh’s first-ever podium finish at the event. In that Cinderella run at Den Bosch, Netherlands, Shana toppled powerhouses like former world champions Kim Woojin and Mauro Nespoli to earn his place on the podium. The achievement not only made history but also secured Bangladesh its first direct Olympic archery berth for the Tokyo Games. Riding that momentum, Shana captured gold at the Asia Cup in the Philippines later the same year, proving his world medal was no fluke. In 2021, he added another feather to his cap by partnering with rising archer Diya Siddique to claim silver in the mixed team event at the Archery World Cup, Bangladesh’s best-ever finish at the competition. That year, World Archery named him the 2019 Breakthrough Athlete of the Year, recognising both his bronze and the path it cleared for Olympic qualification. At his peak, the boy from Khulna reached a world ranking of No. 10, firmly placing him among archery’s global elite. Read more: Bazball Brilliance: Ben Duckett’s Rise Reshaping England’s Game Champion on Home Soil Shana was instrumental in Bangladesh’s clean sweep of all ten archery gold medals at the 2019 South Asian Games—an unprecedented regional triumph that put the nation firmly on the archery map. In 2023, he reclaimed the national crown by winning the Bangladesh National Archery Championship, sealing the men’s recurve title with a dominant 6–0 win in the final. (He and Diya took silver in the mixed-team event.) That title, his first in five years, reaffirmed Shana’s lasting dominance. He continues to represent Bangladesh Ansar, a leading domestic sports institution that regularly tops national medal tallies. Rising from a Disorganized System Archery in Bangladesh is still finding its footing, and when Shana picked up a bow in 2010, the sport lacked both structure and funding. His early training involved bamboo bows, built in a grassroots programme for youth. A turning point came in 2018 with the appointment of German coach Martin Frederick, funded by the “Teer Go for Gold” initiative. Frederick brought structure, international exposure, and professional training. The impact was immediate: Bangladesh’s archers won 15 gold, 18 silver, and 10 bronze medals on the international stage in 2018–2019. Read more: Najmul steps down as Bangladesh Test captain after Colombo defeat But even as Shana’s star rose, cracks remained. Despite being the country’s top archer, he received a monthly allowance of just ৳3,000 (around $35)—a sum he said was “barely enough to live on.” When Shana voiced his frustration, officials responded defensively. The federation’s secretary went so far as to claim Shana had “mental issues” and needed a psychiatrist, rather than addressing the real concerns he raised. Challenges and a Crossroads By 2023, after COVID-related disruptions and internal disputes, Shana’s form began to dip. He was briefly benched and banned for alleged disciplinary issues. Feeling pressured by restrictive federation rules and disrespected despite years of service, Shana made the shock decision to retire from the national team at just 28. In a heartfelt letter, he questioned what he had earned after 14 years of dedication—feeling that even historic achievements hadn’t secured him recognition or meaningful reward. In early 2025, the story took another turn. Ruman Shana, Bangladesh’s Olympic flag-bearer in archery, left the country with his wife, Diya Siddique, in search of better prospects in the United States. “We left… hoping for a better future,” Shana said. Read more: Who could handle the burden of Bangladesh's Test captaincy? If things don’t change, his story risks becoming a one-off—a symbol not of progress, but of missed opportunity. The Way Forward: Hitting the Bullseye Despite the setbacks, Ruman Shana’s story is far from finished—and it holds valuable lessons for Bangladesh. He has expressed openness to returning, but only if real changes are made. His message is clear: talent alone isn’t enough—support systems matter. First, athletes need secure livelihoods. Competitive stipends or sponsorships are essential for full-time training. Second, the country must retain top-tier coaching and upgrade training facilities. The Martin Frederick era showed what’s possible—replicating that success demands sustained investment. Lastly, there must be a culture of recognition. Athletes need more than applause. National awards, job placements, and long-term financial backing show that the country truly values its heroes. While the private sector, like City Group’s “Teer” brand, stepped up to support Shana, the public sector must now play its part with equal commitment. Read more: Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers: Bangladesh to start campaign against Bahrain on Sunday For an archer to aim for Olympic gold, they mustn’t fear what happens after the final arrow is released. A Legacy to Build On Ruman Shana’s journey in archery, from a small village in Khulna to the world championship podium, is proof of what Bangladeshi talent can achieve when determination meets opportunity. His story is a rallying cry: with the right support, more Rumans can rise. The nation owes him not just thanks, but change.

Bangladesh team clinched bronze medal in the men's recurve team events of the 2023 Archery Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament, Stage -3 beating Australia by 5-4 sets in Singapore on Saturday (June 10, 2023). Bangladesh recurve team consists of Sagor Islam, Hakim Ahmed Rubel and Ram Krishna Saha played 4-4 draw with their Australian rivals in the first stage. REad: Asian Chess: IM Fahad Rahman beat Kuziev Miraziz of Uzbekistan in 6th round. Later in the tie breaker, Bangladesh beat Australia by 29-27 score to win the bronze medal. China win the event's gold medal while India took the silver medal in the event of the Asian meet, participated by 26 countries. A 15- member Bangladesh National Archery team participated in the Archery Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament, Stage-3 concluded on Saturday in Singapore. Read: Jr Asia Cup Hockey: Bangladesh eliminated in group stage Members of Bangladesh Archery team are: Archers: Hakim Ahmed Rubel, Sagor Islam, Ram Krishna Saha ( Recurve Men's), Diya Siddiqui, Joyti Rani, Shima Akhter Shimu (Recurve Women's), Mohammad Ashiquzzaman, Newaj Ahmed Rakib, Sohel Rana (Compound Men's), Bonnya Akhter, Shymoli Rai and Puspita Zaman (Compound Women's) Read: DRU Shooting: Rumel Khan emerges men's, Nadia Sharmin women's champions

Bangladesh team clinched gold medal in the recurve mixed team event of the 2023 Asia Cup World Ranking Tournament beating their Kazakhstan rivals in Chinese Taipei on Sunday. Bangladesh mixed doubles pair Hakim Ahmed Rubel and Diya Siddiqui beat their Kazakhstan rivals Abdullin Ilfat and E Alina partner by 5-3 set in the event's final Monday afternoon.  Mohammad Abdul Hakin Rubel earned a bronze medal for Bangladesh in the recurve men's singles  beating his Kazakhstan opponent Abdullin Ilfat by 6-4 set in a bronze medal deciding match of the event, also on Monday. Also read: Bangladesh Archery team to fly for Chinese Taipei Tuesday early hour However, Diya Siddiqui of Bangladesh lost to her Malaysian rival Mashaqikh Syaqiera by 4-6 set in the 3rd place deciding bronze medal match of the recurve women's singles on Monday.  A nine-member Bangladesh National Archery team comprising  six archers and three officials left the capital for Chinese Taipei last Tuesday. Members of Bangladesh team: Mohamnad Hakim Ahmed Rubel, M Sagor Islam, Ram Krishna Saha (recurve men's archer), Diya Siddiqui (recurve women's archer), Mohammad Ashiquzzaman (compound men's archer) and Shymoli Rai (compound women's archer). Officials: Aynal Haque Swapan (team manager),  Martin Frederick ( head coach) and Mohammad Hasan (coach).  

Para Archery Bangladesh, a new sports federation for physically disabled archers under the initiative of the National Paralympic Committee, began its journey through a launching ceremony at a local hotel Monday. State Minister for Youth and Sports M Zahid Ahsan Russell inaugurated the campaign in Bangladesh as the chief guest to open the door to the international arena for the country's physically disabled archers. Russell said the government is constructing a separate stadium for the talented disabled sportsmen near the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on 4.16 acres of land at the cost of Tk14 crore.

Bangladesh earned one silver and two bronze medals in archery competition of the ongoing 5th Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkish city Konya on Wednesday. Bangladesh archery team comprising Roxana Akter, Shymoli Roy and Puspita Zaman clinched the silver medal in the women's compound team event losing to hosts Turkey by 229-222 points in the event's final on Wednesday. This was the first silver medal for Bangladesh in the ongoing Islamic games that came easily from women's compound team event, participated by only two countries--Bangladesh and host Turkey. Read: Islamic Solidarity Games: Bangladesh's prospective event archery begins Monday Bangladesh men's and women's recurve teams also clinched two bronze medals on the day. Bangladesh men's team consisting of Hakim Ahmed Rubel, Ruman Shana and Sagar Islam won the bronze medal in the  men's recurve team event beating Saudi Arabia by 6-0 sets points in a bronze medal deciding match. Earlier, Bangladesh men's recurve team beat Sudan in the pre quarter final, beat Iran in the quarterfinal and lost to Indonesia in the semifinal.    In the women's recurve team event, Bangladesh team comprising Diya Siddiqui, Nasrin Akter and Beauty Roy won the bronze medal beating Uzbekistan by 6-2 sets points  Earlier, Bangladesh women's recurve team defeated Malaysia in pre quarter final, beat Iran in the quarter final and lost to Indonesia by tie breaker in the semifinal.          Besides, Bangladeshi swimmer Mahmudun Nabi Nahid reached the semifinals of the men's 50-meter butterfly with a timing of 26.22 seconds.  In Karate, Al Amin of Bangladesh advanced to the quarter final of the men's under-60 kgs Kumi competition beating his rival from Yemen .

Bangladesh will start their campaign in their most prospective event of the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games Archery on Monday in the Turkish city of Konya The qualifying round of the games archery will begin at 1 pm Bangladesh time on Monday.Twelve archers will represent Bangladesh in all the ten events of the 5th Islamic Solidarity GamesBangladeshi archers are -Ruman Shana, Hakim Ahmed Rubel, Sagar Islam (recurve men's), Diya Siddiqui, Nasrin Akhter, Beauty Roy (recurve women's) , Mithu Rahman, Mohammad Ashiquzzaman, Sohel Rana (compound men's), Shymoly Rai, Pushpita Zaman and Roxana Akhter (compound women's). Also read: Islamic Games: Imranur finishes 6th in 100-meter sprintMeanwhile, Bangladeshi athletes took part in the day's fencing and shooting competitions of the games. Kamrul Islam of Bangladesh lost to Asranov Yousuf of Uzbekistan 1-15 in the fencing table of sixteen while another Bangladeshi Monir Hossain lost to Elias Molinar. Also read: Islamic Games: Bangladeshi sprinter Imranur Rahman advances to 100-meter semifinalIn the day's shooting competition, two Bangladeshi shooters scored 25 and 23 points in the first round while the shooters of Oman and Kuwait scored 27 and 28 points respectively.

A 10-member Bangladesh team will leave Dhaka for France Sunday to participate in the Archery World Cup stage 3 in Paris during June 21-26. The team of seven archers (three women), one manager, one coach and one sponsor representative, will leave the capital around 6pm on a flight of Etihad Airways. Read: Archery League 1 : BKSP emerge champions in Recurve Div, Police in Compound Div Bangladesh will compete in men's team recurve, men's singles recurve, women's team recurve, women's singles recurve, and mixed team recurve. The qualifying round of the competition will begin on June 21. Bangladesh team Archers Ruman Shana, Hakim Ahmed Rubel, Abdur Rahman Alif, Sagar Islam (men's recurve team) Diya Siddiqui, Nasrin Akhter, Famida Sultana Disha (women's recurve team) Officials Martin Frederick (head coach), M Rashiduzzaman Serniabad (team manager), Rubaiyat Ahmed (sponsor representative).

The Bangladesh team was eliminated from the recurve men's team event's pre-quarter final of the Archery World Cup, Stage-2, losing to South Korea by 1-5 sets held in Korea on Thursday. Earlier, Bangladesh recurve men's team consisting of Hakim Ahmed Rubel, M. Ruman Shana and Abdur Rahman Aliif reached the pre-quarterfinal of the meet beating Australia by 6-0 sets in the elimination round of 12 Thursday morning Read: BAN vs SL First Test 2022: Four key Takeaways for Bangladesh The recurve men's singles, recurve women's singles and mixed team event matches will be held on Friday (May 20).  

Bangladesh to play Australia in the elimination round of 12 of the recurve men’s team event of the Archery World Cup, Stage-2 on Thursday (May 19) in Korea. Earlier, Bangladesh recurve men’s team comprises Hakim Ahmed Rubel, Ruman Shana and Abdur Rahman Alif was placed 16th among 18 participating teams scoring 1913 while Bangladesh recurve mixed team consists Hakim Ahmed Rubel and Diya Siddiqui finished 17th among 20 teams scoring 1265 in the event’s qualification round on Wednesday.      Also read: Asia Cup Archery: Bangladesh gets silver medals losing to India in finals In the day’s qualification round of the recurve men’s singles,  Hakim Ahmed Rubel of Bangladesh was placed 44th scoring 642, Ruman Shana finished 50th scoring 636 while Abdur Rahman Alif ranked 55th scoring 635 among the 77 archers . In the recurve women’s singles qualifiers, Diya Siddiqui of Bangladesh was placed 21st scoring 623 among 64 participants on the day.

Bangladeshi archers won silver medals losing to India in all the three gold medal deciding finals of the Asia Cup World Ranking Archery Tournament, Stage-2  on the 5th and final day of the meet in Sulaymaniyah of Iraq  on Wednesday. Bangladesh Archery team bagged three silvers and one bronze to raise their total medal tally to four silvers and four bronze. In the day's finals, Bangladesh recurve women's team fought bravely with their Indian rivals, but Bangladesh recurve men's team and Ruman Shana in the recurve singles, failed to make good fights against the Indians. In the recurve women's team event, Bangladesh team comprising Nasrin Akter, Diya Siddiqui and Shymoly Roy earned the silver medal losing to India by 4-5 sets in tie-breaker as the final match was locked in 4-4 in the first stage. In the recurve men's team event, Bangladesh team of Mohammad Ruman Shana, Hakim Ahmed Rubel and Abdur Rahman Alif got silver medal after suffering 1-5 sets defeat against India in the event's final. In the recurve men's singles, Bangladeshi celebrated archer Ruman Shana also failed to display his previous form in the match and settled for a silver losing to Chauhan Mrinal of India by 2-6 sets in the final.