Bhutan’s archers Kinley Tshering and Lam Dorji have reached the men’s individual recurve quarterfinals at the 20th Asian Games after securing three consecutive victories each in the elimination rounds.
Kinley, who qualified 37th with 655 points, defeated Tajikistan’s Dilshodi Bakhtiyor 7-1 before overcoming fifth-ranked qualifier Ahmad Khoirul Baasith of Indonesia 6-4. He then edged China’s Li Mengqi 6-5 in a shoot-off after their match ended level. Lam, who qualified 31st with 659 points, began with a 6-0 win over Kyrgyzstan’s Ulukbek Kursanaliev. He followed it with 6-4 victories over Iran’s Mohammadhossein Golshani Asl and Hong Kong, China’s Kwok Yin Chai.
The results mean both Bhutanese archers have advanced from a field of 58 into the final eight. Their quarterfinal matches are scheduled for October 3, with Kinley facing Korea’s Lee Woo Seok and Lam taking on India’s Neeraj Chauhan. Their progress comes after boxer Kinga Wangmo made history by becoming the first Bhutanese woman to win an Asian Games boxing bout. She defeated Bahrain’s Maryam Khamis in the women’s 54kg round of 16 before losing to China’s Zhao Xuan in the quarterfinals. With Kinley and Lam now among the final eight in archery, Bhutan continues to make a notable impact at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.