NEW DELHI: The national archery camp, which is currently underway at the Army Sports Institute in Pune, is likely to be extended beyond this month. SAI and ASI had initially notified to all archers that the camp will be till September 30. Archery Association of India (AAI) confirmed the development and added that the decision was taken keeping in mind the varied arrival dates of the recurve archers currently part of the camp.
"Many archers due to complications could not arrive on the starting date. So due to quarantine rules, they got less time. Hence the camp will be extended so as to provide them extra time to get back in the groove," a top official revealed.
The plan is to continue with the camp till next year. But that is yet to be confirmed. However, even after two weeks, four archers are yet to reach the camp. And there are chances that a couple of archers might not even attend the camp. While Riddhi is self-isolating back home, Jayanta Talukdar and Ankita are currently training at the Tata Academy in Jamshedpur. Both of them have undergone changes in their shooting technique under the guidance of Lim Chae Wong, an experienced Korean coach.
The duo needs time to fix certain issues and former national coach Purnima Mahato has even written to the federation and SAI to excuse the duo for the time being. There has been no response as of now. However, the federation admitted that there was a chance that a few archers might not attend for the time-being and keeping the pandemic in mind, they cannot compel an athlete to attend. "It will be difficult for us to force archers to attend.
We have to be sympathetic in this current climate. All of them are either senior archers or part of a promising bunch. We will try to help each and everyone." AAI had initially planned to hold open selection trials so as to add more archers in the camp but due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country, that plan is currently on hold.
"We are still exploring all options. For now, holding an open trial will not be feasible." Plans to conduct national championships is also on hold.