Bangladesh boy Ruman Shana chosen as world's breakthrough archer

Ace archer Ruman Shana has been named the breakthrough athlete of 2019 by the World Archery Federation, capping off his annus mirabilis in the sport.

Bangladesh's German coach Martin Frederick was also adjudged coach of the year by archery's governing body on Monday.

The awards are decided by a combination of public and expert votes.

Ruman began the year with a silver medal in the ISSF World Ranking Championship in Dhaka before bagging a historic bronze medal at the world championships which clinched Bangladesh's first-ever berth in an Olympic Games.

The Khulna native also snagged a gold media in the Asia Cup and added three more in the South Asian Games later in the year.

Ruman was also nominated for the athlete of the year title in the recurve men's category but he lost out on the award to American archer Brady Ellison.

But the 24-year-old has no regrets about missing out on the award as he vowed to build on his successes moving forward.

"This is a big achievement for me. I never thought I could achieve such an honour. But I wouldn't have been disappointed even if I didn't get it as I thought the nomination was in itself a big achievement," he told bdnews24.com.

"It has made the road ahead even more challenging. The Olympics are coming up and I hope I can keep up my performance there and bring success to Bangladesh."