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Hitting a bull's eye
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The sport is bursting with talent that has been unearthed recently
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PHOTO G. KRISHNASWAMY
AIMING FOR THE SKIES Rahul Banerjee
Several of the country's top archers put up noteworthy performances during the national circuit archery meet in Hyderabad recently.
This is a sport that has seen a rapid rise in standards over the last few years and if players and officials persist with their efforts, there is every likelihood of bagging an Olympic medal sooner or later.
Indian archers are known to be among the best in the international arena and are not taken lightly by world champions from Korea and elsewhere.
During the national ranking meet it was Rahul Banerjee of Steel Plants and C.H. Lenin of Andhra Pradesh who stole the honours on the concluding day with some fine performances in their respective competitions.
In the recurve bow category 22-year-old Rahul Banerjee, a trainee of the Tata Archery Academy and now being coached by Dharmender Tiwari, chalked up 62 points to finish at the top in the final Olympic round.
He was followed by Tarundeep Rai of SSCB and Harish Karai also of SSCB.
Rahul who was a silver medal winner at the Guwahati National Games said he was delighted to win the title in Hyderabad.
More so since he improved upon his performance in the Senior National meet where he had come fifth.
For the host state, the 22-year-old Lenin lifted the title in the mens compound bow category with a tally of 57 points followed by Palton Hansda of Jharkhand and Rajwant Singh of Delhi.
Lenin who is based in Vijayawada, with his gritty display also booked a slot for the World Cup championship which is to be held in April in Korea this year.
He dedicated this triumph to his sister Volga, who was herself a national archer and who passed away under tragic circumstances a couple of years ago.
In the womens section the vastly experienced Chakrovolu Swuro edged out another experienced archer Dola Banerjee in the recurve bow class.
Swuro who hails from Nagaland is being trained by a Korean coach Mun B.Woon in Bangalore along with nine other archers under the Laxmi Mittal Champions Trust programme.
In the compound bow for women, Jhanu Hansda, another widely experienced veteran had little trouble in taking the title.
The top four who competed in the final rounds have qualified to represent India in the forthcoming World Cup said Anil Kamineni, secretary-general of Archery Association of India.
ABHIJIT SEN GUPTA
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