AAI fires a blank shot

For the first time in recent years, the Archery Association of India AAI seems to have fired a blank shot.

For the first time in recent years, the Archery Association of India AAI seems to have fired a blank shot. Call it an error of judgement or the fear of procedural delays, the men8217;s recurve team will benefit by default with a trip to Dover to participate in the 4th World Cup Archery along with the women8217;s squad from July 31 and August 5. But the sad part is that the team that will go to Dover is the same old lot that failed to qualify for the Beijing Games.

The men8217;s squad comprises Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Somai Murmu, while the women8217;s team will have Chekrovolu Swuro, Dola Banerjee and Bombayla Devi. They are leaving for England later on Sunday night from Kolkata.

The trip was meant to give the teams much-needed exposure before the Asian Championships at Xian China between September 14 and 19. AAI had announced two sets of players, men and women, for the World Championships in Germany and the World Cup in Dover as the gap between both events, according to AAI president Vijay Malhotra, was 8220;negligible8221;, though the world meet got over on July 7.

But the AAI could have reversed its decision in the light of the men8217;s squad failing to qualify in Germany. With only two individual spots on offer for the Indians in the continental event in September, AAI could have prepared the team for that event rather than sending it to Dover.

This selection has left a number of archers waiting on the wings a little bewildered and disappointed. A top archer who refused to be named said: 8220;If the AAI had been serious about Olympic qualification, it could have acted more positively by conducting another set of trials to select a fresh set of players.8221;

And since that didn8217;t happen, fringe archers are waiting for the next national ranking competition in Jamshedpur from August 16 to 19. But surprisingly, Malhotra said as much as he would have wanted the team selections after proper trials, this one was decided before the world meet. 8220;Since we had already selected the team for the World Championships after proper trials in Kolkata and the gap between both the competitions was less, we stuck by it. Nevertheless it will be a good exposure for the team.8221;

Echoing his views, coach Sanjeev Singh said there was hardly time to hold fresh trials and hence the problem. Moreover, they had already been cleared by the Sports Ministry and going through the process again would have been time-consuming.

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But vice-president Paresh Mukherjee let the cat out of the bag: 8220;Frankly speaking, no one really thought that the men8217;s team will fail to qualify for the Beijing Games. If both teams had qualified, then the Dover meet would have been an ideal platform to start preparations for the Olympics. But what they did was beyond anybody8217;s expectations and we were caught off guard.8221;

However, he did admit that the men8217;s team had nothing to play for in Dover.