Host Bangladesh and Uzbekistan upset top seeds Korea to reach their first mixed team finals at the 2025 Asian Archery Championships in Dhaka on Wednesday.
This will be Bangladesh’s second mixed team final at the continental championships, following the silver medal won by Hakim Ahmed Rubel and Diya Siddique on home soil at Dhaka 2021.
The fourth seeds Bonna Akter and Himu Bachhar stayed ahead from the start to defeat the higher-ranked Koreans Kim Jongho and Park Yerin, 158-153. Earlier, the Bangladeshi pair had survived a strong quarterfinal challenge from Iran’s Fatemeh Bagheri and Armin Pakzad, winning the tiebreak, 19-18.
Akter and Bachhar’s impressive run – their first together at a major championships – came a day after 17-year-old Most Kulsum Akther Mone thrilled home fans by advancing to the final four of the compound women’s individual event.
In the gold medal match, the home team will face second seeds India, represented by Abhishek Verma and youngster Deepshikha, on Thursday. The Indian duo overcame Kazakhstan’s Roxana Yunussova and Andrey Tyutyun in the other semifinal.
In the recurve competition, top seeds Korea and India will contest the bronze medal match after losing their semifinals to Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei, respectively.
For Uzbekistan, the result was historic as the team reached its first final at the Asian Championships, upsetting the fancied Korean duo Seo Mingi and Jang Minhee.
Amirkhon Sadikov and Ziyodakhon Abdusattorova, who won mixed team bronze together at the Sharjah 2022 Asia Cup, rallied from a set down to shoot a perfect 30 in the final set – beating a Korean team that included Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion Jang Minhee.
Uzbekistan will face Chinese Taipei in the final on Friday, after the young team of Tai Yu-Hsuan and Li Tsai-Chi delivered a clinical straight-set win over India’s Anshika Kumari and Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge.
This will be Li Tsai-Chi’s second final in Dhaka, as the Chinese Taipei recurve women’s team also advanced to Friday’s title match, continuing her strong season that includes a team silver at the Winnipeg 2025 World Archery Youth Championships.
Competition continues tomorrow in Dhaka with the compound individual and team finals.
You can watch the finals live on Thursday and Friday with a subscription to archery+.
