Indian archery teams named for Asian GP, Asian championships

Kolkata, October 16, 2009:
Archery Association of India (AAI) on Friday named the Indian teams for the fifth Asian Grand Prix at Dhaka from October 21 to 24 and for the 16th Asian championship at Bali (Indonesia) from November 16-21.

The two-day trials held at the Sports Authority of India, Eastern Centre on October 14 and 15, saw some fine performances by up and coming archers. The biggest surprise of the trials was the failure of the three women Beijing Olympians, Dola Banerjee, Laishram Bombayla Devi and V. Pranitha to make it to the first team for the Asian championship.

The AAI had decided to send the top four to the prestigious Asian meet and the next four to the Asian Grand Prix.

Competitions were held in FITA round and over 70m. The 52 archers in four categories (men’s and women’s recurve and men’s and women’s compound) participated in the FITA round where the men shot 36 arrows each over four distances: 90m, 70, 50 and 30m, for a total of 144 arrows. The women too shot 36 arrows each (total 144) over four distances: 70m, 60, 50 and 30m.

The next day the archers shot 36 arrows four times over 70m distance for a total of 144 arrows. The two totals were combined and the ranking finalised in a most transparent manner to the satisfaction of all archers.

At the end of two days of action, youngsters like Atanu Das and Pawan Xalxo (men’s recurve), Belsari Narsary (women’s recurve), Priyanshu Kachhap and Gagandeep Kaur (both women’s compound) came to the fore giving Indian archery a terrific fillip.

Former junior men’s compound world champion (2006) Palton Hansda returned to the Indian team after a considerable gap. Reigning cadet girls’ world champion Deepika Kumari was unlucky to finish 10 due to equipment breakdown on the first day. Deepika, who is being groomed for the 2012 London Olympics, was the most impressive among the youngsters, according to coaches who attended the trials.

The return of Chekrovolu Swuro of Nagaland to the Indian team for the Asian meet was being seen as the resurgence of the old guard. With the form of veteran Dola Banerjee dipping by the day, the women’s recurve team needed an experienced hand to lead the charge. Chekrovolu and Bombayla spent considerable time in Korea recently.

Talukdar too seemed to have regained his rhythm going by the scores he achieved during the trials. Rimil Buriuly’s fourth place finish was a cause for worry as she would not be participating in the team championship.

The Asian GP squad:
Recurve, men: Pawan Xalxo (Steel Plant Sports Board), Tarundeep Rai (Services), Kapil (Chandigarh) and K. Shiva Shankar (Services).
Women: Dola Banerjee (Railways), L. Bombayla Devi (Railways), Belsari Narsary (Assam) and V. Pranitha (SPSB).
Compound, men: Chungda Sherpa, Gokul Tamuli, Bijay Rai (all Services) and Amrinder Singh (Punjab).
Women: Asrita Kerketta (Jharkhand), S. Jayalakshmi (Maharashtra), Sumanlata Murmu and Priyanshu Kachhap (both Jharkhand).

The Asian championship squad:
Recurve, men: Jayanta Talukdar (SPSB), Mangal Singh Champia (Rly), Rahul Banerjee and Atanu Das (both SPSB).
Women. Chekrovolu Swuro (Nagaland), Reena Kumari (Railways), Laxmirani Majhi and Rimil Buriuly (both SPSB).
Compound, men: C. Srither (Ser), Isaiah R. Sanam (AP), Kh. Ratan Singh (Ser) and Palton Hansda (Jharkhand).
Women: Jhano Hansdah, Namita Yadav, Manjudha Soy (all Jharkhand) and Gagandeep Kaur (Punjab).

Source: Press release from Indian Archery Association