Dehradun (Uttarakhand): India is a strong unit in the world of Archery as they have three players in the top 10. On the third spot, there is Abhishek Verma from Delhi, fourth place is occupied by Maharashtra's Prathmesh Javakar and Ojas Praveen is on the sixth spot.
These three players have been selected for the prestigious Arjuna Award and the award will be presented to them at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. Recently, India's top archers have arrived in Uttarakhand for the first archery league in the country. They shared experience and future plans during an exclusive interaction with ETV Bharat.
- Abhishek Verma, World Rank 3
Along with being the number 3 archer around the world, he is also the Assistant Commissioner in the Delhi Income Tax Department. Abhishek said that it was a tough journey for him but his interest in the sport helped him progress. He started competing in Archery since his school days and then took part in state level, national level and international level competitions.
Abhishek commented that there the interest for archery has increased among youth. "The commencement of Uttarakhand Archery League will promote the sport all over the country. The young players get exposure through such leagues as they get to play with the international stars," quipped Abhishek Verma. He also remarked that all games should get equal treatment so the players will get encouragement.
- Prathmesh Javakar, World Rank 4
Prathmesh Javakar said the league will benefit Archery in a lot of aspects. "The league format will boost the popularity of the sport as well as it will provide a platform for young players to showcase their talent. Also, the league will help Uttarakhand add to their medal tally in the upcoming edition of the National Games," the archer added. He also said that he will be keen to continue producing some impressive performances.
- Ojas Pravin, World Rank 6
Ojas said he kicked off his archery career at Nagpur in Maharashtra and he practiced the sport for first five years in Nagpur and started practicing in Satara in western Maharashtra since the last one year. According to Ojas, the first significant achievement for him was bagging gold in National Games. Subsequently, he won silver medal in the individual event and gold medal in the team event in Junior Asia Cup which was his international debut. The results boosted his morale and the archer has been progressing steadily ever since. Ojas also opined that the game wasn't known much a few years back. "In the last few years, government has been encouraging many sports including Archery," he quipped. Also, he was hopeful that more and more youngsters will opt archery as a profession.
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