TAIWAN TAKEN BY SURPRISE

Mongolian arbalest team made it to gold at the 111th World championship.

«Some of us have never held an arbalest... we have only seen it on video...» The statement from the eight strong Mongolian team surprised organizers of the 111th world arbalest championship held in Taiwan last October.

Since the team was already registered for the tournament, the organizers had no choice but to assign their best coach to train the Mongolian team.

«Oh, no! Of course, we have had previous experience in bow and pistol shooting. It's just that our Association had no funds to buy arbalests,» says T. Enkhtuya, a pistol shooter for the past nine years. «But we were very confident that we could make it.»

For the next ten days, the sportsmen trained around the clock.

And the natural skills of the nomads helped them to excel at the competition, beating the leading Japanese and New Zealand teams. Silver and bronze medals in team performance were proof of the superiority of the century-old bow shooters.

«We did not have a clue that Mongols would come up such strong competitors,» said Japanese and New Zealanders contestants afterward.

As with any other new kind of sport, the Arbalest Shooters Association of Mongolia, set up two years ago, struggles with a shortage of funding, lack of proper equipment, training ranges and halls.

Nevertheless, the spirit of competition and determination helps Mongolian sportswomen to beat all the odds.

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