The focus of the Indian archery team before the Rio Olympics is the World Cup stage-3 at Antalya, Turkey, as it would decide the fate of the Indian men's team qualification to the mega event in August.
The World Cup, to be held from June 11 to 20, will be crucial for the Indian men team as it would be qualification event to reserve full men team berth for the Rio games, said Anil Kamineni, Secretary General of Archery Association of India (AAI) here.
Kamineni, who was here to witness the inaugural team selection trial for the Rio games, said Indian women team and one individual archer have already qualified for Rio.
Prior to Olympic games, Indian archers (men and women) will take part in the World Cup stage-1 at Shanghai, from April 24 to Many 2.
Kamineni said AAI will send its second rank team to participate in the World Cup stage-2 to be held at Medellin, Colombia, from May 8 to 15, as the main team will be busy preparing for the Olympics.
Jamshedpur, which is hosting the 1st selection trial at the JRD Tata Sports complex, will conduct the 2nd and 3rd selection trials while fourth and fifth trials will be held in Delhi followed by sixth trial at Ooty/Bangalore, he said.
If required, AAI will conduct a 7th selection trial for men depending on the outcome of the World Cup at Antalya.
Following the 4th selection trial, he said, archery team comprised of six men and six women archers will take part in Kahraman Bagatir Tournament at Antalya to be held from March 27 to April 7.
This will help them acclimatize with the climate there before taking part in the World Cup there in June.
Meanwhile, 40 men and 20 women recurve archers are taking part in the selection trial here.
