Archery Association of India to conduct selection trials for Asian Games from this weekend

The Archery Association of India (AAI) will conduct selection trials to select the national team for the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, in Sonepat, Haryana, as per AAI secretary general Pramod Chandurkar.

The trials will commence on June 25 at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus in Sonepat and will conclude on June 27.

It will be mandatory for archers who have not performed during the three World Cups to attend the trials to earn a berth for the Asian Games, scheduled to be held in September.

The World Cup Stage 1 was held in Antalya, Turkey, from April 18 to 23, while the second leg of the World Cup was held in Shanghai from May 16 to 21. The third World Cup was held in Medellin, Colombia, from June 3 to 18.

“Archers in the national team who have not performed in the individual events during the three World Cups this year will be attending the selection trials,” the secretary general of the AAI told Sportskeeda.

At the Colombia World Cup, India’s Abhishek Verma won individual men's compound gold. Overall the Indian team won one gold, two silver and one bronze medal.

Earlier, Jyothi Surekha Vennam won individual women's compound gold in April, while Prathamesh Samadhan Jawkar won gold in the second leg of the World Cup in Shanghai.

The national team will also be selected for the 2023 World Archery Championships, scheduled to be held from July 31 to August 6 in Berlin, Germany. The tournament will be the first Paris Olympic Games qualification event of 2023.

According to a senior archery coach, top archers claimed team medals during the World Cups, but weren’t as successful as expected in the individual events, which is the main reason behind conducting national selection trials at the end of June.

“Performance during the 2023 World Cups were evaluated. Some of the archers weren’t as consistent as expected. The federation wants to send the best team for the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to be held in China from September 23 to October 8,” a national archery coach said.

The national camp is expected to start from June 29 for both recurve and compound events. The compound event will feature at the Asian Games but not in the Olympic programme.

“Our main goal this year is to achieve the 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualification at the Berlin World Archery Championship and then focus on the preparation part,” said the AAI secretary general.