India rewards archers for performances at World Cup

Addressing a press conference in the VIP Lounge of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the President of Archery Association of India Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra handed over a cheque to Shri Jayant Talukdar who won the Individual Recurve Gold Medal at the first FITA World Cup Series launched. Prof. Malhotra also gave prize money to Sushree Jhano Hansda, Sakro Besra and Manjudha Soy, members of the Indian Women Compound Team who won the Team Silver Medal.

Prof. Malhotra mentioned that these world class performances could be achieved thanks to the sustained efforts made by the Archery Association of India over the past several years. He informed that the Association has so far spend more than Rs.70.00 Lakhs in conducting the National Ranking Archery Circuit Tournaments in which Cash Prizes have been distributed amongst the top Archers.
 
He mentioned that the series of Ranking Tournaments and the incentives given by the Association has helped the Archers to maintain their high level of performance and to sustain the pressure at International competitions. Dola Banerjee won the first European Gold medal at the European Grand Prix at Antalaya, Turkey last year. Similarly, the Men Recurve team ranked 2nd and the Indian Women Recurve Team 4th at the World Outdoor Archery Championships in Madrid, Spain in July 2005.
 
The performance of the Indian Archers in Porec, Croatia has raised the hopes of sports lovers in the Country. The President further mentioned that the Archery Association of India could manage to import modern equipment for the talented Archers.
 
While appreciating the support extended by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) and the Sports Authority of India in implementing the Long Term Development Programme of the Association, Prof. Malhotra demanded that the permissible number of foreign exposure be increased so as to provide more and more International Competition to a large number of Archers prior to the 2006 Asian Games and 2008 Olympic Games. Prof. Malhotra further demanded that the MYAS would pay more attention towards building up the Junior Talent so that strong Indian side could be fielded in the Commonwealth Games of 2010.
 
He mentioned that while it is important to prepare the city to host such mega sports events, it is equally important to prepare the teams to win medals without which huge infra-structure would be meaningless. He explained that the import of sports equipment should be simplified, the remuneration to expert foreign coaches be enhanced. The financial assistance to National Sports Federations has been reduced in the current financial year. Prof. Malhotra asked for more financial assistance to National Sports Federations preparing for Asian Games 2006, Olympic Games 2008 and Commonwealth Games 2010.
 
Prof. Malhotra announced that the names of the Indian Archery Team for the forthcoming 2nd World Cup Archery Series to be held in Antalaya, Turkey from 7th to 10th June and for the 3rd Series to be held in El Salvador from 21st to 25th June. He mentioned that the Junior Archery Team will participate in the SAF Games to be held at Colombo from 17th to 27th August and the 2nd Asian Circuit Meet in Kuala Lumpur from 21st to 27th July as a part of preparation for the Junior World Championships to be held in Mexico from 15th to 21st October.
 
Prof. Malhotra thanked MYAS, Sports Authority of India, TATA Archery Academy, Jamshedpur; Army Sports Institute, Pune; Gurukul Prabhat Ashram, Meerut; Mittal Champions Trust and the Media for all their support in achieving International performance. 
 

 
Selection of Senior Indian Archery Team for 2nd World Cup Tournament in Antalya, Turkey from 7th to 10th June and 3rd World Cup Tournament in San Salvador, El Salvador from 21st to 25th June:

Recurve Men 1) Jayanta Talukdar 2) Tarundeep Rai 3) N.Ravindhar 4) Mangal Singh Recurve Women 1) Reena Kumari 2) Dola Banerjee 3) Laxmi Rani Majhi 4) Sushma Compound Women 1) Jhanu Hansdah 2) Manjudha Soy 3) Sakro Besra 4) Radha Bai

Selection of Junior Indian Archery Team for 2nd Asian Grand Prix Archery Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 21st to 27th July and SAF Games, Archery in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 17th to 27th August:

Recurve Boys 1) Amardeep Karketta 2) Birsa Bandiya 3) Nayan Moni Nath 4) Kapil Recurve Girls 1) Punya Prabha 2) Runu Swargariya 3) Rosie Lalrem 4) Ranu Compound Boys 1) Palton Hansda 2) Renso Purti 3) Santosh Tamang 4) Abhishek Verma

Rao V.V.S.N.
Director Archery Association of India
raovvsn@hotmail.com