October 07: It is not only Bhutanese archers who are looking forward to the National Autumn Archery Tournament this season. Seven German archers have come all the way to Bhutan for the sole purpose of participating in the tournament.

They have been practicing and preparing for the tournament. On Saturday, they took part in a friendly archery match in Taba.

The team of archers comprising of four men and three women are not new to archery but this is the first time they are getting to try their hand at the national sport of Bhutan. Back home, they are all members of an archery club.

The team is led by Harry Wittig, the president of the club. He was a well known Olympic archer and stood ninth in the Olympic games of 1984.

He said traditional Bhutanese archery is more difficult even when played on fiber optic compound bows than Olympic archery. The distance is longer and the target smaller.

Bhutan and archery are both not knew to Armen, one of the seven German archers. He has spent several years in Bhutan working as a volunteer at the Punakha hospital. This is where he learnt to play to archery.

He said he like Bhutanese archery not only because of the way it is played but also the participation of the whole community with the women and spectators dancing and singing.

Steffe one of the women archers said because of the long distance Bhutanese archery is difficult for women.

The German archers will also be participating in friendly matches in Paro and Punakha also.