Nepali archer

Archery is, now, not only limited to the ancient emperors and hunters but has developed as a sport in which both male and female give the presentation of their skills in the game. It has earned its reputation as a growing game in Nepal and the representatives have gone to participate in the international arena as well. Such is the case of Yasodha Rai, a national level archer of Nepal.



She started her career in archery after she picked up her bamboo bow in August 2007. She met Rathin Dutta, who had come from India to Nepal to promote the game among females. Dutta wanted to bring up a co-ed team from Nepal to participate in the 2nd South Asian Archery Championship which was to take place in Jhamshedpur, Kolkata in March 2008. Yashodha, together with three veteran women archers from Pokhara, began the regular training alongside men under the coach and fellow teammate Prem Prasad Pun at Dashrath Rangasala. The need of more than 90 m space for practice forced them to continue their training at midday under the scorching heat as the ground was occupied by other players practicing in the morning and evening. As the result of their laborious efforts, the team was able to bag 16 medals in the 5th Country Tournament.

yasodha rai

Going to India for the tournament with her 20 teammates was the first time she had gone on a big trip without her family. The training helped a lot and also paid off as they were able to perform well and won just one less medal than the best performer of the game, the Indian team. Although archery is less popular and not everyone are well informed about it, the game is picking up its pace. People are slowly acknowledging its existence and importance and it has a promising future in Nepal. The University has donated a piece of land for the training of the players and the training is said to begin after the funds are collected and modern bows are bought.

Yasodha believes that with proper trainings and instruments, archery could be developed as a popular game in Nepal and also Nepal might be able to send representatives in international tournaments as well.