National Archery Championships To Kick Off From Tomorrow:- The 24th Senior Indian round and 2nd Para National Archery championships, will kick off from July 15-16 at the RRC Ground in Secunderabad.
The championship will be conducted by the Telangana Archery Association (TAA) under the aegis of Archery Association of India (AAI).
The State of Telangana will witness its first ever national competition in archery, after its formation in 2014. Around 300 archers (200 men and 100 women) from across the country will take part in the 24th Senior Indian round. Competitions in the Indian round will be held in 30 and 50 metres categories respectively.
Meanwhile in the Para-nationals, around 78 (60 men and 10 women) will tee off against each other. Unlike, Senior Indian round meet which will holds competition in a single category, the Para nationals will be held in three categories- Recurve, Compound and Indian rounds respectively. The distances to be shot in the different sections are the following- Recurve (70 m), Compound (50 m) and Indian (30 and 50m respectively).
The Senior Indian round competition involves participants using bows and arrows made of bamboo or wood. Even though it is not played internationally, the event will act as a major talent hunt, encouragement and provide a stage for upcoming archers to showcase their potential, feels TAA President Anil Kamineni who also dons the AAI secretary’s post.
“We want to unearth new talents. It is a great opportunity for them. Everyone irrespective of their social and economic class can compete. That is the whole purpose of Indian rounds. They will start with bamboos. It is more of a screening test for us to find the best. These players will later be sponsored by agencies, who will equip them with quality bows and arrows required for the bigger games,” he explained.
“As for the Para nationals, we have two players from the State, Asif from Khammam and Raj from Hyderabad,” the President added. As of now, archery has yet to grow. See we won two silver medals at the 2016 World Championship and few other international laurels. We are yet to make it big in Olympics. Right now the top priority is to increase our medal strength so as to encourage ourselves. Moreover people complain that archery is not much of a spectator sport. We will come up with new ways to sort it out increase the game’s publicity,” he concluded.
SUPRAJA
