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On first day of archery league, rain plays spoilsport but format holds promise

A television deal is yet to be finalized for the league; But 20 seconds for a shot should lend itself to interesting viewing

Deepika Kumari, part of the Chola Chiefs, prevailed over Atanu Das’ Chero Archers 5-1. (World Archery/File Photo)

The Archery Premier League (APL) became another entrant to the growing list of first-timer franchise based leagues that have cropped up this year in India. The league, which attempts to tie the global appeal of archery with Indian mythology, chose to begin on the festival of Dussehra. But heavy rains that had lashed the city on Thursday forced crowds to largely stay away from the Yamuna Sports Complex venue for the opening ceremony as well as the first three matches.

Based on six franchises each named after ruling dynasties of India – Prithviraj Yodhas (Delhi), Mighty Marathas (Maharashtra), Kakatiya Knights (Telangana), Rajputana Royals (Rajasthan), Chero Archers (Jharkhand) and Chola Chiefs (Tamil Nadu) – the league is based on each team having eight archers. The format of the league is a mix of compound and recurve archery, with four archers from a team going up against four from the other.

On Thursday though, the best laid plans got waylaid. What was meant to tie archery with an Indian festival that has its symbolic ties to the bow and arrow, turned into a rain marred spectacle.

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“In some ways it’s a good day and in some ways a bad way to start the league today. It’s good because people get to know archery in a modern way. But it’s bad because not too many people were able to make it to the venue today,” said Indian archery staple Deepika Kumari to reporters. Kumari, part of the Chola Chiefs, prevailed over Atanu Das’ Chero Archers 5-1.

Surrounded by police personnel, who outnumbered the actual number of fans who had turned up – the league’s opening ceremony saw Telugu film star Ram Charan brought in. But when the actor tried to meet some of the participating archers, his fans, who had made an unruly circle that was uncontrollable even with significant security personnel of the star plus the police presence, spilled into a group of archers standing waiting to talk to Charan.

One of the coaches of the team screamed at the group of people, asking them to make space and eventually asked the archers to move themselves and their equipment out of the way. A smaller crowd at the Yamuna Sports Complex meant that a bigger tragedy was averted.

“I have a 15-year-old archer who is crying and I’m angry. They didn’t show any social sense. The people are simply not ready to listen,” said one of the team’s coaches after the incident.

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The rocky start for the league was not lost on the APL director Anil Kamineni. “The hindrance today was the rain. We had so many people coming and then they said they wouldn’t be able to make it. But we said it’s our archery, it’s a sport, so it has to go on. So, there’s no question of cancelling. So, we went ahead,” said Anil to the Indian Express.

A television deal is yet to be landed but Kamineni said that while they were in talks, an OTT platform was ready to put their weight in immediately.

Despite the teething troubles, the format of the league and its time stipulation make it compelling. 20 seconds for a shot and four archers needing to quickly make theirs and move out of the way so that their teammate can let fly their arrow, adds a sense of urgency. Coupling that with two recurve archers and two compound archers, both attempting to land the best possible arrow on different targets, makes the format unique and sets it apart from the sport’s Olympic format.

“It’s easier for recurve to quickly set up and shoot an arrow but it’s tough for the compound archers. Our goal is to reach the shooting line quickly and take a shot no matter what. Now we have to think about our shot, as well as the time on the clock,” said Deepika.