9 hours ago
Indian Archery League set for October launch
The much-anticipated franchise-based Indian Archery League is finally set to take off in October at the Yamuna Sports Complex in New Delhi with six city-based teams, Archery Association of India treasurer Joris Paulose Ummacheril confirmed on Tuesday.
Initially conceptualised in 2020, the league had to be shelved due to lack of sponsors.
However, the AAI has now secured sponsors and is currently in discussions with broadcasters, including Sony Sports and JioHotstar, to roll out the league this year.
This will be the world's first franchise league in archery and the federation is hopeful of a strong response that will go a long way in developing Indian archers, who are still chasing their maiden Olympic medal.
'Everything will be finalised by the end of this month, and we are hopeful of launching the league in the October window. We are calling it Indian Archery League but the name is not yet finalised,' Jose told PTI.
ALSO READ | Kisik Lee set to coach Indian recurve archers ahead of 2028 Olympics
Three teams -- from Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru -- have already been finalised. The remaining franchises will be decided soon. Each franchise will adopt a city, depending on ownership and league plans.
Each team will consist of eight archers -- four in recurve and four in compound -- with two men and two women in each category.
It will be mandatory for each team to include two overseas archers, Joris said.
'We've seen how the IPL has revolutionised Indian cricket, and we are confident this league will do something similar for archery,' another AAI official said.
Related Topics
Archery
