The focus of the Indian archery team before the Rio Olympics is the World Cup stage-3 in Antalya, Turkey, as it would decide the fate of the Indian men’s recurve team's qualification to the mega event in August. The World Cup, to be held from June 11 to 20, will be crucial for the Indian men's team as it would be the final qualification event to reserve a team berth for the Rio Games, said Anil Kamineni, Secretary General of Archery Association of India (AAI) here.
Kamineni, who was here to witness the inaugural team selection trial for the Rio Games, said the Indian women's team and one individual archer (Mangal Singh Champia) have already qualified for Rio.
Prior to the Olympic Games, the Indian archers (men and women) will take part in the World Cup stage-1 in Shanghai, from April 24 to May 2.
Kamineni said the AAI will send its second rank team to participate in the World Cup stage-2 to be held in Medellin, Colombia, from May 8 to 15, as the main team will be busy preparing for the Olympics.
Jamshedpur, which is hosting the first selection trial at the JRD Tata Sports complex, will conduct the second and third selection trials, while the fourth and fifth trials will be held in Delhi, followed by a sixth trial in Ooty or Bangalore, he said.
If required, the AAI will conduct a seventh selection trial for the men, depending on the outcome of the World Cup in Antalya.
Following the fourth selection trial, he said, the archery team, comprising of six men and six women archers, will take part in Kahraman Bagatir Tournament in Antalya to be held from March 27 to April 7.
This will help them acclimatise with the climate there before taking part in the World Cup in June. Meanwhile, 40 men and 20 women recurve archers are taking part in the selection trial here.
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