NEW DELHI: Though the dates of the age group, as well as senior nationals for the country's archers, were announced more than a month ago, the evolving COVID-19 situation might lead to the postponement of a few events.
The sub-junior nationals were scheduled to be held from March 20 in Amravati in Maharashtra. But due to rising cases there, the Maharashtra government has announced weekend lockdown as well as restrictions on public gathering. And the Archery Association of India (AAI) officials have sent out a notice to the various state associations about not booking tickets or accommodation till further notice. There are murmurs that the meet might have to be postponed keeping in mind the safety aspect.
"We cannot plan anything currently. We have to wait for some time for a clear picture to emerge. As of now, a few state associations are in a dilemma whether to conduct state sub-junior trials," a source informed.
The senior nationals is scheduled to be held in April. AAI was in talks with Railways about conducting the competition in Chittaranjan. This topic will be broached during the upcoming AGM and there is a likelihood that there might be a delay. No change in venue has been discussed as of now.
"Hopefully, a solution presents itself soon. We will speak about it during the AGM. After that a month notice will be provided to all stakeholders including archers," the source added.
Compound camp delay
After the first selection trial to pick the top 12 compound archers was held in New Delhi, the national camp was set to begin in SAI Sonepat from February 8. But due to administrative delays, the camp finally started from Saturday. The archers are currently in quarantine and will be allowed to enter the premises after a negative RT-PCR test after five days.
"It took time from SAI regarding final approval. We already informed the archers about the delay. Now they will be in quarantine before being allowed to practice."
The archers had to bring a negative certificate before traveling to Sonepat. A further trial will be conducted from February 28 to select the A and B teams for the three World Cup stages.