A new sports league will be rolled out in India soon. According to a Press Trust of India report the Indian Archery League is set to commence in October this year.
The report states that the league will take place in Delhi all will follow a city-based franchise model. There will be six teams that will be participating in the inaugural season of the league. It has taken five years for the league to reach a stage where it is ready to be launched. The league was first conceptualised in 2020. However due to lack of sponsorship the launch kept getting delayed.
The Archery Association of India, the governing body of the sport in India, has now locked in sponsors. The body is now in talks with broadcasters who will give the league the platform so that it can be taken to the masses.
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According to the report, this is the first time that Archery is dabbling into a franchise league. The league is being planned to elevate the level of the sport in the country. Although India has regularly won medals in Archery at various international competitions, a medal at the Olympics remain elusive.
Three of the six cities that will have their teams in the league have been finalised. These cities are Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The names of the remaining three cities will be soon declared.
Each team will comprise of eight archers — four for recurve archery and four four compound archery. Every team has to have two men and two women in each category of archery including two overseas archers.
Difference between recurve archery and compound archery is the type of bow that is used in the sport. Also while compound archery had five existing events at the Olympics, recurve archery was never made a part of the Olympic Games.
In April this year the International Olympic Committee announced that recurve archery will be making its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angles Games. A compound mixed team competition will be part of the 2028 LA Olympic Games programme.
South Korea is the top nation in Archery.
Prakhar Sachdeo
The Sportz Planet
