ARCHERY ASSOCIATION OF INDIA R E P O R T OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL for the period 16th February, 2008 to 30th June, 2009 Dear friends, At the outset, it gives me immense pleasure in welcoming you all to this meeting being held today. I feel privileged to present my report in the capacity of Secretary General before this August House covering the period 16th February, 2008 to 30th June, 2009. Copies of Minutes of the last General Council Meeting of the AAI held on 16th February, 2008 at Delhi are placed for approval as Annexure (A) The Report is presented to you as a summary of the important events, developments and significant progress AAI has made as an organization during the period under consideration. I am sure you will enjoy reading. Upon reviewing the period, it was very important for AAI as we formulated our Strategic Plan and then began the important step outlined in our plan. The period of the report has been a very exciting and most successful in terms of achievements attained. I remember those initial days when Archery was confined to the East and the North East part of India. States like West Bengal, Manipur, Meghalaya, Bihar, Delhi and Assam used to hog all the limelight. But today archery has spread all over the country. Actually, Indian archery has seen a resurgence on two occasions; first from 1989 to 1992, often called the ‘Limba Ram period’, and then from 2003 to now, when new generation, namely Tarundeep Rai, Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee, Mangal Singh, Satyadev Prasad, Viswash, Prabhat Kandir, Ravindhar, Palton in men section and Dola Banejeree, Reena Kumari, Chekrovolu, Bomabyla Devi, Pranitha, Jhanu Hansdah, Bheigyabati Chanu, Sakro Besra, Manjudha Soy in women have unveiled their talent. Significantly, the current rise of Indian archery hold out more promise than the olden reign, simply because the country has good archers in greater number. In short, its quality supply base is wider for which I appreciate the role played by Tata Archery Academy –Jamshedpur; Army Sports Institute- Pune; Gurukul Prabhat Ashram- Meerut and Mittal Champions Trust- Mumbai, Sports Authority of India and our active member associations of course. The entire world is observing with curiosity towards India’ surge, as it figures among the top two countries now. I strongly believe that everyone involved in our family will be making archery stronger and more successful. I am sure that whole Archery fraternity includes Presidents & Secretaries of State Associations/Units, Executive Council Members, Coaches, Officials and above all “Archers” be our comrades in accomplishing AAI motto – ‘Adventure of Excellence’, and we shall surely succeed. Through this report, I wish to congratulate our Senior and Junior Archers both men and women and their respective Coaches for their enormous efforts to make India proud. Meantime, I call upon our Archers and Coaches to put all-out efforts to develop a strong winner’s instinct in the days to come. However, further progress is only possible by becoming more and more focused on quality and setting clear priorities. Let’s have a look at AAI activities during the period of report step-by-step :- :: 2 :: Indian Archers’Achievements during Report Period ACHIEVEMENTS Year Event Name Men / Recurve/ Individual/ Medals Women Compound Team Gold Silver Bronze Jayanta Mangal & Rahul Men Recurve Team - 1 - 3rd World Cup - Turkey Jayanta Talukdar Men Recurve Individual - - 1 June 2-7 Dola,Rimil & L.Bombalya Women Recurve Team - - 1 2 nd 2 World Cup - Jayanta, Mangal & Rahul Men Recurve Team 1 - - Croatia May 4-9 Jayanta Talukdar Men Recurve Individual 1 - - Jayanta , Mangal & Rahul Men Recurve Team 1 - - st 1 World Cup Dola Banerjee Women Recurve Individual - - 1 0 Santo Dominigo- 31March -5 April Jhanu, Bheigyabati & Manjudha Women Compound Individual - - 1 Tarundeep, MR Tirkey & Kapil Men Recurve Team 1 - - Reena, Punya & V.Pranitha Women Recurve Team 1 - - 2nd Asian Grand L.Haridas Men Compound Individual 1 - - Tarundeep Rai Men Recurve Individual - 1 - 0 Prix- Iran Sweety Kumari Women Compound Individual - 1 - May 18-24 Chinglen.Haridas & Amrender Men Compound Team - 1 - Sakro, Manjudha & Sweety Women Compound Team - 1 - 9 Total Medals 6 5 4 10th Junior & 4th Pranitha Vardhineni Women Recurve Individual - 1 - Cadet World - Rimil Biruly, Belsri Narzary & V. Turkey Men Recurve Team - 1 - 2 Oct.6-12 Pranitha Rajib, Adonda & Nayan Moni Men Recurve Team 1 - - Pratima Boro Women Recurve Individual 1 - - nd 2 Asian Grand Namita, Sweety & Sumanlata Women Compound Team - 1 - Prix - Iran Pranitha, Pratima & Rimil Women Recurve Team - 1 June 10-15 V. Pranitha Women Recurve Individual - 1 - 0 Rajib Basumatary Men Recurve Individual - 1 Sanjay, Nikon & Birsa Men Compound Team - - 1 3rd World Cup - Turkey Jayanta, Rahul & Mangal Men Recurve Team 1 - - May 27-31 0 2nd World Cup - Rahul Banerjee Men Recurve Individual - 1 - Croatia April 15-19 Jayanta, Rahul & Mangal Men Recurve Team - - 1 nd 2 South Asian – Recurve Men/ India All Archers Compound Indv./Team 15 6 - Women 8 March 6-10 Bamboo Bow Total Medals 18 12 3 Medals during 2008 & 2009(Till June) 24 17 7 :: 3 :: International Competitions : The details of International Tournaments in which our Archers took part are as follows:- a) 2nd South Asian Archery Championship It is a matter of great pride that Archery Association of India had conducted 2nd South Asian Archery Championship (SAAC) at JRD TATA Sports Complex, Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) from 6th to 10th March, 2008 inviting Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan including host country. Countries except Pakistan and Afghanistan participated in the event. To support the development programme in South Asian region, Bamboo Bow event was also introduced as a part of SAAC for the first time. Free boarding, lodging and local transportation facilities were provided to all participants. The job done by Jharkhand Archery Association and TATA Steel being local hosts of the event with the active support of devoted workers & volunteers of Organising Committee and Technical Officials of the event was really very commendable. Indian archers exhibited their prowess and dominated the entire competition by winning 15 Golds, 6 Silvers in individual as well as team events. Performance details of Indian Archers are attached as Annexure (B-I) b) 1st FITA Meteksan Archery World Cup - 2008 Tournament Below named twenty-member Indian Archery team participated in the 1st FITA Mateksan Archery World Cup-2008 held at Santo Domingo from 1st to 6th April 2008 :- Men (Recurve) Women (Recurve) 1) Tarundeep Rai 1) L.Bombalya Devi 2) Rahul Banerjee 2) Chekrovolu Swuro 3) Mangal Singh Champia 3) Pranitha Vardineni 4) Jayanta Talukdar 4) Dola Banerjee Men (Compound) Women (Compound) 1) Isaiah Sanam 1) Jhanu Hansdah 2) Baban Kumar 2) Namita Yadav 3) K. Ratan SIngh 3) Vrushali Gorle 4) Chungda Sherpa 4) Beigyabati Channu Mr.Wang Woo Lee, Ms.Purnima Mahato and Mr.Richpal Singh accompanied the team as Coaches. Mr.Sanjeeva Singh represented the country as Coach-cum-Manager. The summarized results are as follows :- RECURVE WOMEN Among Recurve Women Archers, Bombayla Devi and Chekravolu Swuro did well as individual capacity in 1/32 and 1/16 levels but they lost their respective 1/8 round. Two of our archers - Pranitha and Dola Benerjee lost out in their first matches. Recurve women team eliminated Mexico (196 Vs 194) in pre-quarter final but lost to Italy (212 Vs 209) in quarter final match. They stood at 6th position. :: 4 :: RECURVE MEN The effort of Tarundeep Rai (ranked 4th) and Mangal Singh Champia (ranked 6th) was creditable. Before loosing semi-final, Tarundeep ousted four opponents of different countries. Unluckily, he returned home empty-handled when he missed Bronze Medal Match whereas Mangal Singh lost at ¼. Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee could register only one win in their name. After entering into quarter final through bye system, Recurve Men team had a success in defeating comparatively strong team of France (224 Vs 209) in a pre-quarter final to face Australia in Semi Final but failed to win over Australia (217 Vs 211). In a very tense and tight Bronze Medal match, India shot 209 as compared to 213 points and went down to Italy by 4 points. Indian team ranked 4th. COMPOUND WOMEN No archer except Jhanu Hansdah could impress with her performance in Individual Women Compound Team. Jhanu Hansdah won 1/16 and 1/8 match but lost in ¼ match. Compound Team of Jhanu, Namita and Bheigyabati failed to overcome the strong challenge of Russian Team in ¼ elimination round. Team got 7th position. COMPOUND MEN The performance of Compound Men team in the World Cup can not be termed as satisfactory. It was very unfortunate that none of the Compound Archer except I.R.Sanam could cross the first hurdle of 1/32. In the team event also, they lost to Great Britain in their first elimination round. Performance details of Indian Archers are attached as Annexure (B-II) c) 2nd FITA Meteksan Archery World Cup - 2008 Tournament The same team composition which represented the country in 1st World Cup-Santo Domingo were fielded for the 2nd FITA Mateksan Archery World Cup-2008 held at Porec (Croatia) from 15th to 19th April 2008. Mr.Sanjeeva Singh who was selected as Coach-cum-Manager could not attend the championship. Indian contingent performance in 2nd World Cup are highlighted as under :- RECURVE WOMEN The performance of Bombayla Devi in Individual elimination event was praiseworthy as she defeated three strong contenders before loosing in a breath-wreaking tie-breaker quarter-final scoring 107/ 107. She got 5th rank. V.Pranitha Devi gave a tough fight but lost in pre-quarter final. She was at 12th position. Chekrovolu Swuro lost out in 1/16 and Dola Banerjee lost out in 1/32 round.