AAI unsure about March 24-25 trials, archers unhappy
NEW DELHI: The sports ministry’s latest advisory, issued on Thursday, that states that no competition or selection trial can be conducted by any national federation until March 15 has put the Archery Association of India (AAI) in a bind. It is mulling whether to go ahead with its Olympic selection trials scheduled on March 24 and 25, although it is after the said date.
Currently, the national camp has been reduced from 24 recurve archers (12 men and women) to eight each. The archers are training at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune. “These trials are necessary as we want to select the best possible team for the Olympics. The men have already secured the quota, but we need to zero in on the best combination. Also, what if the remaining World Cup stages don’t happen?” a senior AAI official told this daily.
The first stage of the Archery World Cup was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the second stage in Turkey, scheduled to be held in May, looks unlikely. The third stage in Berlin is an Olympic qualifier, which the women’s team is targeting. “The women will travel to Berlin without any sort of competitive action,” said the official. But the AAI might have to rethink, considering the sports ministry’s instruction to the athletics and shooting federations to call off events they were planning and staging.
The ministry’s advisory states no outside exposure for athletes as well as no outsider inside the camps. The archers are reluctant to appear in trials at this stage because barring three, the other 13 stay outside. This is because the ASI only accommodates those from an army background. While a few stay in rented apartments, some stay in hotels. From food delivery to outsiders coming in, the archers are in close contact with a lot of people. The AAI, SAI and army authorities are in contact with each other, trying to find a solution.
“We have been pondering over the issue. We had meetings where shifting the camp was discussed, but travelling now is a risk. Even if the army allows the men to stay inside, women have no place in that premises. We need to find a solution. All three parties are in consultation with each other,” an AAI source said. Another development which has made the archers unhappy is that two archers from the women’s camp have been asked to stay in their rooms after catching fever since Monday.
They have been barred from attending practice and it is unlikely that they will attend the trials if they take place. These archers have foreign travel history and doctors at ASI have asked them to keep away. They have not been tested yet. “We have been asking them for concrete steps but nobody seems to care for the archers. We are under health risk on a daily basis and in these turbulent times, are trials really necessary? Should it be more important than our collective safety?” a few archers said.