Archery is one of the oldest arts still practised. Although it probably dates to the Stone Age (around 20'000 BC) the earliest people known to have used bows and arrows were the ancient Egyptians, who adopted archery at least 5000 years ago for purposes of hunting and warfare.
Lord Ram and Arjun made this weapon famous through their exploits in Ramayan and Mahabharat respectively.
Since then, the humble bow and arrow (or archery as it's more famously known now) is more used as a competitive tool rather than a combative one. The sport which was more famous in the rural areas has found it's way to the Olympics and every other major multi sporting event in the world.
Archery first appeared in the Olympics in 1900 and in 1904 it became the first discipline to include both men and women.
Based out of Lausanne, Switzerland, the FITA or the International Archery Federation has 145 member countries and 5 continental associations affiliated to it.
While India has been actively participating in events organised by the FITA and also at multi sporting events, it has rarely attracted any nationwide interest due to lack of medals.
The 90s saw the emergence of champion archers, mostly from rural India, in the form of Limba Ram and Lalrem Sanga. They performed superbly at Barcelona (1992) where Limba was amongst the top six best archers in the world.
This success spurred the Sports Ministry to include Archery as one of the priority sports to be promoted across the country.
Then it was Dola Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai's turn to earn more glory for the country. Dola Banerjee became the first Indian woman to qualify for the Olympics while Rai played his part in winning the Asian Archery Championships in 2003.
Since then, Indian archers has won many medals and events at various World and Asian meets although an Olympic medal still continues to elude them.
2010 has been a watershed year for Indian archery. Mainly due the performance in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games where the archers won a bagful of medals.
Rahul Banerjee (Dola's brother), Tarundeep Rai, Jayanta Talukdar, Bombayala Devi and Deepika Kumari have played their part in many victories and their losses were only to top ranked archers from other Asian countries. They stunned the more fancied South Koreans, as recently as, on June 10 to move in to the final of the World Championships held at Turkey.
Rahul and Tarundeep have now been sponsored by the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) which should help them take their minds of other issues and concentrate only on the sport.
Amongst future hopefuls is the bright young star, Deepika Kumari from Ranchi. Daughter of an autorickshaw driver and a nurse, she started off by aiming for mangoes with stones. Grappling with financial constraints, she refused to give up and started practicing with bamboo gear.
Thanks to her cousin, a stint with the Tata Archery Academy helped get her basics right.
All of 17 years, she's already won the World Youth Archery Championships 1n 2009.
In the Commonwealth Games, she topped off with gold in the individual recurve and the team championships. Lost by a whisker for the bronze at the Asiad. But made it up by winning the team bronze along with Dola Banerjee and Bombayala Devi.
With the right kind of support and backup by the state administration and the archery federation, we should see Deepika Kumari win medals on the Olympic stage. She could be the leading light for Indian archery the same way Abhinav Bindra is for shooting.
The Indian team will receive a shot in the arm should Olympian, Mangal Singh Champia, return from his injury.
With the World Championships to start on July 3 at Turin, Italy and with 32 Olympic berths at stake, we should see atleast 3-4 Indians participate and hopefully win medals in London.
Their success could see aspiring archers from other states too, to take up the sport, on a longer term basis. Currently, it seems to be concentrated only around the West Bengal, Jharkhand and the Orissa belt.
One of the best ways to promote the game is to catch them young with schools setting up archery ranges. Quite a few international schools have good enough space to accomodate a range.
An Olympic size range could be developed atleast in all tier 1 and 2 cities of the country which could encourage a common man to take up the sport.
Corporates could be encouraged to promote the game, the way Tata's do it with their Academy at Jamshedpur. Tax breaks on the amounts spent might help this cause.
Our country has a connection with archery, even before the times of Ramayan and Mahabharat. Given the right kind of support, guidance and infrastructure, it won't be long before we see school kids take up the sport, seriously and excel.
Lord Ram and Arjun made this weapon famous through their exploits in Ramayan and Mahabharat respectively.
Since then, the humble bow and arrow (or archery as it's more famously known now) is more used as a competitive tool rather than a combative one. The sport which was more famous in the rural areas has found it's way to the Olympics and every other major multi sporting event in the world.
Archery first appeared in the Olympics in 1900 and in 1904 it became the first discipline to include both men and women.
Based out of Lausanne, Switzerland, the FITA or the International Archery Federation has 145 member countries and 5 continental associations affiliated to it.
While India has been actively participating in events organised by the FITA and also at multi sporting events, it has rarely attracted any nationwide interest due to lack of medals.
 |
| Limba Ram |
This success spurred the Sports Ministry to include Archery as one of the priority sports to be promoted across the country.
 |
| Dola Banerjee |
Since then, Indian archers has won many medals and events at various World and Asian meets although an Olympic medal still continues to elude them.
2010 has been a watershed year for Indian archery. Mainly due the performance in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games where the archers won a bagful of medals.
Rahul Banerjee (Dola's brother), Tarundeep Rai, Jayanta Talukdar, Bombayala Devi and Deepika Kumari have played their part in many victories and their losses were only to top ranked archers from other Asian countries. They stunned the more fancied South Koreans, as recently as, on June 10 to move in to the final of the World Championships held at Turkey.
Rahul and Tarundeep have now been sponsored by the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) which should help them take their minds of other issues and concentrate only on the sport.
Amongst future hopefuls is the bright young star, Deepika Kumari from Ranchi. Daughter of an autorickshaw driver and a nurse, she started off by aiming for mangoes with stones. Grappling with financial constraints, she refused to give up and started practicing with bamboo gear.
Thanks to her cousin, a stint with the Tata Archery Academy helped get her basics right.
 |
| Deepika Kumari |
In the Commonwealth Games, she topped off with gold in the individual recurve and the team championships. Lost by a whisker for the bronze at the Asiad. But made it up by winning the team bronze along with Dola Banerjee and Bombayala Devi.
With the right kind of support and backup by the state administration and the archery federation, we should see Deepika Kumari win medals on the Olympic stage. She could be the leading light for Indian archery the same way Abhinav Bindra is for shooting.
The Indian team will receive a shot in the arm should Olympian, Mangal Singh Champia, return from his injury.
With the World Championships to start on July 3 at Turin, Italy and with 32 Olympic berths at stake, we should see atleast 3-4 Indians participate and hopefully win medals in London.
Their success could see aspiring archers from other states too, to take up the sport, on a longer term basis. Currently, it seems to be concentrated only around the West Bengal, Jharkhand and the Orissa belt.
One of the best ways to promote the game is to catch them young with schools setting up archery ranges. Quite a few international schools have good enough space to accomodate a range.
An Olympic size range could be developed atleast in all tier 1 and 2 cities of the country which could encourage a common man to take up the sport.
Corporates could be encouraged to promote the game, the way Tata's do it with their Academy at Jamshedpur. Tax breaks on the amounts spent might help this cause.
Our country has a connection with archery, even before the times of Ramayan and Mahabharat. Given the right kind of support, guidance and infrastructure, it won't be long before we see school kids take up the sport, seriously and excel.
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