Reports | SAI denies monetary help for Indian compound archers ahead of World Championships

According to a TOI report, the SAI has denied the request to grant monetary help to the Indian compound archers’ acclimatisation-cum-training camp in Antalya, Turkey from May 27 to June 8. The request was made for the archers’ preparations ahead of the World Championships in the Netherlands.

The Indian compound archers are currently in Antalya, Turkey for the World Cup which is currently underway. The archers will next participate in the World Championships to be held from June 10-16 in the Netherlands. Although the recurve team will stay back in Turkey for their 13-day training camp ahead of touring the Netherlands, it is learnt by TOI that the compound team will travel back to India and join the recurve team later on June 9, only a day before the World Championships.

Abhishek Verma, Jyothi Surekha, Bhagwan Das, Muskan Kirar, Rajat Chauhan and Raj Kaur are the compound archers who would have benefitted from the acclimatisation camp. The recurve archers’ team include Tarundeep Rai, Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Bombayla Devi, Pravin Jadhav and Komalika Bari.

"For recurve archers, it's the first qualifying event for Tokyo Olympics. However, medal chances are slim," an AAI official told TOI.

"In the case of compound archers, there's no quota places on offer as we all know that compound archery isn't part of Olympics. Since there's no qualification for the compound team, a conditioning camp will serve no purpose. But for the recurve, yes, it definitely will."