Sunday, Feb 26, 2023 08:45 [IST]
Last Update: Sunday, Feb 26, 2023 03:11 [IST]
GANGTOK, : The 1sNational Ranking Archery Tournament 2023 organised by Archery Association of India (AAI) in association with Sikkim Archery Association (SAA) started here at Paljor Stadium on Saturday.
Sixteen top archers of the nation in each category of senior, junior and sub-junior men’s and women’s are taking part in the tournament that will conclude on March 5. Sponsored by NTPC, the tourney will have recurve and compound ranking matches.
Sports minister Kunga Nima Lepcha, also the SAA president, inaugurated the tournament and thanked AAI president Arjun Munda for selecting Sikkim to host the national level archery tournament. He extended his best wishes to the participants and the officials for the tournament.
Archery Association of India secretary general Pramod Chandurkar said the tournament is an important event for the association and the archers.
“India ranks third in the world archery ranking and by holding such tournaments we are also preparing our archers for the 2024 Olympics. The National Ranking Archery Tournament has participation of the national ranking archers as they require competition exposure also,” said Chandurkar.
Four such tournaments are conducted by the AAI annually. For this year, it has started with Sikkim followed by another event at Meghalaya. The finals are slated to be held in Delhi, informed the AAI general secretary. He thanked the SAA for taking the initiative to host this tournament.
The weather our archers are experiencing here in Sikkim will help them to perform better in the upcoming international tournaments in US and Europe whether the weather is similar, said the AAI general secretary.
SAA general secretary Dr. KB Gurung shared his happiness on Sikkim being selected to host the 1st National Ranking Archery Tournament 2023 which has participation of the nation’s best archers.
Our archers from Sikkim will get the opportunity to gain experience and learn from the nationally ranked archers, said Dr. Gurung. He informed that the Sikkim archers in the tournament are the top two position holders in the State level championship held by the SAA recently.
Lok Sabha MP Indra Hang Subba along with other dignitaries also attended the inaugural session at Paljor Stadium.
