Jamshedpur, Dec. 4 (Source-The Telegraph): It’s target US for cadet archers from Jharkhand. The Tata Archery Academy (TAA) has shortlisted eight cadets to field them in the inaugural Youth Olympics, slated to be held in the US in 2010.

But as of now, their age is going against them. So, the selected boys and girls — all under-16 and hence in the sub-junior category — will have to depend on their immediate seniors for qualifying in the high-profile event.

“They shall have to depend on the exploits of Rajib Basumatary, Ando Raju, Rimil Biruly, V. Pranitha and a couple of others , all are under-19 and hence in the junior category. These juniors will compete in national as well as international tournaments and earn points to help India qualify for the Youth Olympics,” said Sanjeeva Singh, chief of TAA. 

Singh explained the juniors — all are from Jharkhand — will cross the age of 19 by the time Youth Olympics is held and will not be eligible to take part. “By then (2010), however, they would have played in some international championships and helped the country qualify for the big event,” he added.

According to Singh, the eight shortlisted by the academy are Mangal Ho, Pawan Khalko, Atanu Sarkar and Dilgu Ho among boys and Deepika Kumari, Shahzadi Khatun, Lovely Gupta and Lavina Saluja among girls.

“We have already started training them under experienced coaches. Our target is to help them get a berth in the Indian team for the US event,” said Singh , adding they were confident the juniors would attain the qualification standards for the show-piece tournament.

“The juniors at our disposal have international medals under their belt. They are experienced and have excelled in major competitions. That is why we have hand-picked the best archers to help the country qualify for the Youth Olympics,” said Singh, who also happens to be the joint secretary of the Archery Association of India (AAI).

Singh said eight countries would participate in the Youth Olympics. Besides archery, other events would also be part of the sports extravaganza.

The TAA chief added they had requested the national archery body to send the cadets abroad for exposure. “We are also trying to field them at next year’s Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok,” he said.