Archery Association of India finalises dates for Olympic trials

NEW DELHI: Archery Association of India have finalised the dates for the Olympic selection trials while outlining how they are going to go about selecting their core team. Officials have also discussed the possibility of changing the venue of the camp.

Two more selection trials have been planned, the first of which is from January 18 to 22. The list of archers will be pruned down to eight among men and women from the current 12. The next trial will be in the first week of March and the top scorers will be selected for the Olympics. Para archers will have their trial in Sonepat on January 25.

According to a source close to developments, the camp might be shifted to Jamshedpur or Sonepat but a final decision will only be taken after the trials.

"Pune has strict rules regarding quarantine which might prove to be a hindrance. Things will be decided soon." A national calendar is also in the works.
The final camp before the archers embark for Japan will be in SAI Delhi in June. The team are expected to be Kurobe City prior to the Games to acclimatise to the conditions.

The federation has also opened an online portal wherein archers, coaches, officials who wish to participate in international and national tournaments, which are recognised or controlled by World Archery or AAI or its member state associations, would be able to seek affiliation with AAI. This would be mandatory for participation. This was one of the clauses mentioned by World Archery when it had provisionally lifted AAI's suspension.

Interestingly, everyone will be charged a sum for this affiliation. While archers will be charged `300, officials will have to pay `500. There is even a provision for archery lovers to register on this portal after paying `900! The money will be used to pay AAI's operational cost while 25 per cent will be sent to state associations.

"Compliance of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports guidelines to issue identity cards to each athlete will also be covered under the portal. The association would be able to conduct any domestic events with the help of collected data. A paperless entry of participants during domestic events is also one of the advantages while this will also help in checking age fraud," said AAI secretary general Pramod Chandurkar.