Para Archery team gets sponsored

“Help from BoM has come at the right time. Selections for the London Paralympics 2012 are also to be done on the basis of the performance in this championship. If we get within rank nine as a team or individual ranks up to 12,we can also get selected for it,” said Para Archery Federation Indian (PAFI) president Vilas Dawane.

Team member Manguesh Kuttikar of Goa said,”While the state government of Goa has announced Rs 50,000 for participation and about Rs 1 lakh for winning medals in international tournaments for able-bodied sportsperson,we got nothing despite winning two bronze medals at the Asian Para Archery Championship held in Bangkok in May this year.”

After contacting various government agencies and not getting any response,the team members decided to raise their own funds. Three of them,including coach Santosh Pradhan,took loans,one mortgaged his wife’s jewellery while one was sponsored by Sachin Tendulkar. The team had earlier also participated in Asian Para Games in China in December 2010,when they were sponsored by the Sports Authority of India and for their Bangkok trip a real estate company from Chennai sponsored them.

Pradhan said the six archers missed out on a lot of training days as they were all running around,trying to arrange for finances. Before getting the training facility at the Army Sports Institute at Pune,Manguesh used to practise in the forests in his hometown in Goa.