BKSP aims big with archers Alif, Sagor
Although Alif had previously represented Bangladesh in World Cups, Asian Archery Championships, and Asian Grand Prix events, he had never secured an individual medal
Archer Abdur Rahman Alif reached the final of a senior-level competition for the first time, as the 19-year-old from Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protistan (BKSP) advanced to the Recurve Individual final of the Asia Cup Archery Stage 2. He achieved the feat by defeating Chinese Taipei's Pin-An Chen 6-4 in the semi-final held in Singapore yesterday.
Although Alif had previously represented Bangladesh in World Cups, Asian Archery Championships, and Asian Grand Prix events, he had never secured an individual medal. However, the BKSP student had been part of Bangladesh's silver-winning recurve team in the Asian Grand Prix twice — in 2022 and 2024.
A Year 12 student at BKSP, Alif also reached the Recurve Individual final at the Asian Archery U-21 Youth Championships in Chinese Taipei last September, where he claimed silver after losing to Li-Cheng Huang.
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Before overcoming 22nd-ranked Chen in the semi-final, Alif defeated China's 26th-ranked Alin 6-2, Malaysia's 10th-ranked Muhammad Syafiq Busthamin 6-4, and second-ranked Tai-Yen Liu of Chinese Taipei.
By securing a spot in the final against China's Miyata Gakuto on Friday, Alif has guaranteed his first-ever individual medal at the senior level. Once ranked as high as 95th in the world archery rankings, Alif had experienced a dip in form and was dropped from the national team — until BKSP brought him back on track.
While Alif impressed in the absence of top Bangladeshi archers such as Hakim Ahmed Rubel and Ruman Sana (both of whom have emigrated to the USA), BKSP — the country's only dedicated sports education institute — is planning an ambitious long-term project focusing on Alif and fellow archer Sagor Islam, who earned his place in the 2024 Paris Olympics on merit.
At a discussion meeting with senior officials from the 21 sports disciplines BKSP trains, Director General Brigadier General Munirul Islam expressed his intention to nurture national archers Alif and Sagor through to 2028, with the aim of winning an Olympic medal.
"Among the newer disciplines, archery has shown great promise. We are prepared to invest in two archers for the 2028 Olympics, provided we can find sponsors to support a long-term training programme," said Islam. "With continuous training under both local and foreign coaches at BKSP, I believe it's not impossible for them to win an Olympic medal — they have that level of potential."
The BKSP chief also called on corporate sponsors — including telecom companies, banks, insurance firms, and others — to contribute a total of Tk 26 lakh over the next four years to help realise the dream of Olympic success.
"Both archers will sit for their Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams soon. Once they pass, BKSP won't be able to retain them unless we secure sponsorship. We're proposing a monthly salary of Tk 30,000 each, along with other facilities, requiring Tk 26 lakh in total," Islam explained. He added that BKSP would cover all other expenses, including accommodation, food, training, medical treatment, and coaching (both local and international), as well as transport.
Meanwhile, both Alif and Sagor remain part of the national archery team under the guidance of German coach Martin Fredrick, who previously helped guide Ruman Sana and Sagor to qualify directly for the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, respectively.
