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Rich haul by Indians at Dhaka
India returned home with a rich haul of six gold, two silver and three bronze medals from the fifth Asian Grand Prix archery championship at Dhaka (Oct. 21-24).
In a seven-nation tournament, India's dominance was so pronounced that it won all except in the women's compound where only the team silver medal came its way.
Recurve Men:
Arjuna Awardee Tarundeep Rai, once ranked fourth in the World Championship in 2005 at Madrid, returned to the medal hunt with a powerful display in the individual section. He stopped Milon of Bangladesh 108-107, thus denying the host from winning its successive gold medal in this section after Hossain's gold medal winning show in the 4th Asian GP at Kolkata. Pawan Xalxo won his maiden individual international senior medal - a bronze. The Indian trio of Rai, Kapil and Pawan Xalxo, combined to beat Bangladesh 217-213 in the team final. Myanmar finished third.
Recurve Women:
Indian women proved to be too good in both individual and team events. Three Beijing Olympians, Dola Banerjee, L. Bombayla Devi and V. Pranitha, defeated Bangaldesh 206-199 in the final. Veteran Dola won the individual gold medal in a very close contest beating teammate Belsari Narsary after the two tied 107-107. In the tie-breaker both shoot a 9 each and in the second tie-break shot Dola hit a 10 and Belsary replied with a weak 7. Bombayla took the bronze medal.
By winning all the individual medals and the team gold, Indian women's recurve team repeated the feat which it had achieved at the 4th Asian GP in Kolkata.
Compound Men:
Chungda Sherpa, Bijay Rai, Gokul Tamuli gave India the team gold medal against Bangladesh. India scored 224 and Bangladesh managed 216. Myanmar won the bronze medal.
Sherpa won the individual gold medal beating Ye Min Swe of Myanmar 118-116. It was his second gold medal of the series. He had won the first gold medal at Kolkata. Amrinder Singh Sidhu took the bronze medal.
Compound Women:
The Indian compound women's team lost the gold medal match to Myanmar at 221-225. Sumanlata Murmu, Sarikonda Jayalakshami and Asrita Kerketta did not measure up to the form and talent they showed during practice before the tournament. Bangladesh picked up the bronze medal.
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Pawan Xalxo, Dola Banerjee on top
Indian archers dominated the qualification round of the fifth Asian Grand Prix archery meet in Dhaka on the opening day on October 21.
Pawan Xalxo and Dola Banerjee stood first in the men's and women's recurve events. Bijay Rai was the best among Indians in men's compound finishing second while Asrita Kerketta was the best in the women's section being placed fourth. The results (Indians only): Recurve Men: 1. Team India 1987 1. Pawan Xalxo 672 points; 2. Kapil 664; 3. K. Shiva Shankar 661; 6. Tarundeep Rai 651 Recurve Women: 1. Team India 1951 1. Dola Banerjee 647; 2. Belsari Narzary 638; 3. L. Bombayla Devi 630; 4. V. Pranitha 624 Compound Men: 1. Team India 2039 2. Bijay Rai 687; 4. Gokul Tamuli 676; 5. Amrinder Singh Sidhu 676; 6. Chungda Sherpa 674. Compound Women: 2. Team India 2001 4. Asrita Kerketta 672; 5. Priyanshu Kachhap 670; 6. Sumanlata Murmu 659; 8. S. Jayalakshmi 651 | ||||||||||||||||
Indian teams named for Asian GP, Asian meet
The Archery Association of India (AAI) on October 16 named the Indian teams for the fifth Asian Grand Prix at Dhaka from October 21 to 24 and for the 16th Asian Championship at Bali (Indonesia) from November 16-21.
The two-day trials held at the Sports Authority of India, Eastern Centre on October 14 and 15, saw some fine performances by up and coming archers. The biggest surprise of the trials was the failure of the three women Beijing Olympians, Dola Banerjee, Laishram Bombayla Devi and V. Pranitha to make it to the first team for the Asian Championship.
The AAI had decided to send the top four to the prestigious Asian meet and the next four to the Asian Grand Prix.
Competitions were held in FITA round and over 70m. The 52 archers in four categories (men’s and women’s recurve and men’s and women’s compound) participated in the FITA round where the men shot 36 arrows each over four distances: 90m, 70, 50 and 30m, for a total of 144 arrows. The women too shot 36 arrows each (total 144) over four distances: 70m, 60, 50 and 30m.
The next day the archers shot 36 arrows four times over 70m distance for a total of 144 arrows. The two totals were combined and the ranking finalised in a most transparent manner to the satisfaction of all archers.
At the end of two days of action, youngsters like Atanu Das and Pawan Xalxo (men’s recurve), Belsari Narsary (women’s recurve), Priyanshu Kachhap and Gagandeep Kaur (both women’s compound) came to the fore giving Indian archery a terrific fillip.
Former junior men’s compound world champion (2006) Palton Hansda returned to the Indian team after a considerable gap. Reigning cadet girls’ world champion Deepika Kumari was unlucky to finish 10 due to equipment breakdown on the first day. Deepika, who is being groomed for the 2012 London Olympics, was the most impressive among the youngsters, according to coaches who attended the trials.
The return of Chekrovolu Swuro of Nagaland to the Indian team for the Asian meet was being seen as the resurgence of the old guard. With the form of veteran Dola Banerjee dipping by the day, the women’s recurve team needed an experienced hand to lead the charge. Chekrovolu and Bombayla spent considerable time in Korea recently.
Talukdar too seemed to have regained his rhythm going by the scores he achieved during the trials. Rimil Buriuly’s fourth place finish was a cause for worry as she would not be participating in the team championship.
The Indian team for Dhaka is expected to leave on October 20
The Indian contingent for Asian Grand Prix:
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