Selection trials for Asia Cup Junior Archery postponed due to pandemic

The national junior selection trials in archery scheduled to be held from Tuesday at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) training center in Sonepat, Haryana, have been postponed due to a surge in pandemic cases in the region. Pramod Chandurkar, secretary general of the Archery Association of India (AAI) confirmed the news on Sunday.

According to Chandurkar, the national selection trials have been postponed until further notice.

“We will review the situation and announce the dates accordingly," he said. "Since the Asia Cup Junior Archery tournament in Bangkok is scheduled for March, we have time to conduct the trials and organize a short camp for the selected archers."

Due to escalating cases of the contagious virus Omicron, the AAI has also postponed the weekend Khelo India North Zone Tournament. The competition was scheduled for January 15 and 16 in Sonepat.

The national governing body of archery in India has also postponed the Para National Archery Tournament, scheduled to be held in Sonepat from Monday.

Meanwhile, some of the top Indian para archers are attending a national coaching camp at the SAI center in Sonepat. The national team will compete at the next month’s World Archery Para Championship in Dubai.

Due to the third wave of the pandemic in India, the AAI has also put on hold the series of prize money national ranking archery tournaments.

“The first of the four series of ranking competition was held earlier this month in Hyderabad," said Chandurkar. "The remaining three series are on hold due to the pandemic."

While the second ranking tournament will be hosted by Jharkhand, Kerala will organize the following event. The fourth and final of the series will be held in Pune.

Each ranking series carries a prize money of Rs 10 lakh. The top 16 in sub-junior, junior and senior levels are entitled to cash awards during the national ranking series.

“The ranking series will enable the archery federation to scout talent and build a second bench for future international tournaments,” added Chandurkar.