IAF AIMS FOR ARCHERY EXCELLENCE
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- Defence
- Saturday, 25 August 2012 17:20
- Published on Saturday, 25 August 2012 18:21
- Hits: 1471
Gujarat Global News Network, Shillong
The medals haul at 2012-London Olympics has been India's best ever. The tally could have been much higher had Indian archers, who were among those tipped at the start of the event as potential medal winners, found their mark.
Aiming to make a mark in the discipline, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has already begun the hunt for young, potential archers who would train at its newly established 'centre of excellence' and nodal centre for archery, in Shillong.
Named 'Eklavya' after the fabled archer of the Mahabharata epic, the IAF nodal centre built in the precincts of HQ Eastern AirCommand, Shillong, has an open-range built to international specifications. It is also equipped with the latest sophisticated archery equipment to match.
IAF archers, Flt Lt Ghanshyam and two others, are currently training at the centre for over a year. In addition, young boys and girls from Meghalaya where traditional archery with hand-strung bows is hugely popular, are also being trained free as goodwill.
Hoping to form a team of eight archers, the IAF recently held trials in Delhi for selecting potential archers. Of the 15 tested, only one archer from Jharkhand qualified the stringent tests. The archers tested had all participated at some national level competition but had to prove their mettle on the day of the test.
"We may consider our future selection trials in the eastern region and the tribal areas," says Air Force Sports Control Board (AFSCB), Secretary, Wg Cdr VN Singh. "We may be able to get the more talented archers from these areas," he adds.
Archery is among the latest additions to the existing list of 28 sports discipline participated by IAF.
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