Traditional Turkish Archery Group Competitions Held in Gümüşhane

In Gümüşhane, around 350 students competed fiercely in traditional Turkish archery group competitions in traditional outfits. The competitions organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports under the coordination of the Turkey Traditional Turkish Archery Federation and Gümüşhane Youth and Sports Provincial Directorate within the scope of school sports were held at Gümüşhane Yenişehir Stadium.

Participants Competed in Traditional Outfits

A total of around 350 students from 13 provinces in the categories of juniors, stars, and youth, including male and female athletes, participated in the competitions. In order to promote Traditional Turkish Archery and increase interest, the athletes competed fiercely in different categories with their traditional outfits.

“We are happy to make our ancestral sport popular”

Emphasizing that traditional methods and outfits were particularly paid attention to in the competitions, Turkey Traditional Turkish Archery Federation Referee Özlem Usluer said, “We are here for the regional qualifiers of Traditional Turkish archery. The students who win here will participate in the Turkey finals in Mersin. Periodically, outfits with a place in Turkish culture and history were selected. Our difference from modern archery is that we do this traditionally. We are happy and proud of our ancestral sport. Interest in traditional archery is increasing significantly now, our youth are doing it with love and the demand is constantly rising, we are happy,” she said.

“We worked hard for the competition”

Özge Karaaslan (13), a Traditional Turkish Archery athlete who came from Malatya to Gümüşhane for the competitions, said, “We worked very hard for this competition, I am quite excited, I don’t know if I did well or not, we will see the results. There is an interest in archery in my family, I started with them. My opponents are very good, I am new and participating in a competition for the first time. I think I shot well,” she said.

On the other hand, after the competitions of the Traditional Turkish Archery Group in Gümüşhane, the Gümüşhane stage will end following the competitions tomorrow.