The Archery Association of India (AAI) on Monday announced planning of its own league similar to the leagues created for other sports like cricket, football, kabaddi and badminton in the country.
Anil Kamineni, secretary general of Archery Association of India, said the league will be launched to promote the sport in India and improve talent in the country.
"Conceptualised with the agenda of promoting archery in India while also improving talent in the nation, the association hopes that the league will bring back the excitement associated with this traditional sport. According to organisers the league will showcase a new revolutionised face of archery which will push the sport to limelight," Kamineni said.
For the past two decades, India has produced the finest of archers for the world to see such as Limba Ram and Dola Banerjee and is currently nurturing talents like Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Abhishek Verma and Rajat Chauhan, who are securing many medals at the national and international competitions.
"This league will help talented players and also identify hidden talents at grassroots level and bring them to limelight."
Lack of awareness and unavailability of suitable platforms has prevented archery from getting its due support and backing. To this cue, the league to be planned by the association will uplift the standard of archery in India by providing the sport and the talented archers their deserved recognition and credit," Kamineni added.
The association is working closely with the World Archery Federation and the proposed league will include top foreign archers, both men and women, in recurve and compound divisions.
--IANS
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