US visa delay spoils archers' plans; compound men capture bronze
CHENNAI: The Indian archery team had a major visa issue before leaving for the US to compete at the World Cup Stage 1. This is a rare instance when a few archers would be missing a tournament over visa delay. The Archery Association of India (AAI) is livid and felt that such a situation should not have arisen at all.
In a big development for compound archery in the country, mixed team competition has been included in the LA2028 Olympics. India have been traditionally very strong in archery. Welcoming the decision, Virendra Sachdeva, the secretary general of AAI said with the inclusion India have the potential to win a medal in mixed category. The men's compound team of Rishabh Yadav, Abhishek Verma and Ojas Pravin Deotale won bronze after beating Denmark 230-223 in the play-off.
To be fair, the AAI said that the process to acquire visas had started well in time for those archers who did not already have US visas. However, despite the sports ministry and external affairs ministry’s efforts, the few visas could not be processed on time. Because of this, India will not be able to field a women’s compound team as Aditi Swami did not leave because of the delay.
However, India’s ace archers Dhiraj Bommadevara and Anshika Kumari managed to get the visas and are expected to reach Central Florida on Wednesday morning, hours before the qualifying event in the afternoon. According to a coach accompanying the team, most members are getting ready for the first World Cup of the season.
According to AAI, out of the nine visas, seven were granted. Out of the seven, two players, Dhiraj and Anshika, coach Sonam Bhutia and a physio left late. Aditi got her visa late and since her event had already begun, she did not go. Sachdeva termed it an unfortunate incident. "We started our visa process well ahead of the scheduled departure. Despite all the effort of the sports ministry, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and MEA, we could not secure an appointment on time. This left some of our archers stranded." Sachdeva said that they had even followed it up with World Archery and the organisers but to no avail. "It is the prerogative of the host nation to facilitate visas to players and one of the criteria the world body usually has before allotting the event is this. World Archery should have taken all these issues into consideration. We have already purchased tickets, booked hotels and paid entry fees."