KOLKATA, Jan 2: After a long gap of nine years, the national camp for the senior recurve archers will return to the SAI Eastern Centre here in Kolkata ahead of the upcoming season.
According to the calendar released by the Archery Association of India on Sunday, SAI Eastern Centre, which had been the recurve archer’s address till London 2012 Olympics, will host the first Senior National Camp from February 25-March 31.
During the camp, the first phase of the selection trial for the Asian Games will be held from March 7-10. The Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 10-25. The AAI calendar also confirmed Jammu and Kashmir as the venue for the 41st Senior Nationals from March 18-27.
“The Asian Games trials will be held in three phases with the second and third phases slated in June and July,” AAI’s high performance director and Dronacharya Awardee Sanjeeva Singh told PTI. The season gets underway with Stage I of the World Cup in Antalya from April 18-24.
The team selected in the first phase trial is likely to represent India in the season opener World Cup in Antalya.
Kolkata used to be the venue for the senior national camp under the AAI secretary general Paresh Nath Mukherjee. But after he stepped down following the London 2012 debacle and the camp shifted base to the Army Sports Institute in Pune where they have erected an Olympic simulated range and display.
“We have now decided to bring back the camps to the SAI centres so as of now Kolkata would be the venue for the recurve camp, while Sonepat will continue to host the compound archers,” Singh concluded.
The AAI has arranged a training and acclimatisation camp for para archers in Dubai ahead of the World Para Archery Championships from February 19-27. The camp will be held from Feb 16-18. The event will be a build-up to the Para Asia Cup in Bangkok from March 20-29.
Indian para archer Harvinder Singh became the first Indian to win a medal – bronze – at the Tokyo Paralympics last year. The junior archers will also get an opportunity to train at Lausanne, Switzerland from February 15-22. (PTI)
