Senior National Archery Championships continue in Shillong as compound events begin

The NTPC Senior National Archery Championships continue in Shillong on Friday 13 November and run until Tuesday 17 November. Organised by the Archery Association of India with the Meghalaya Archery Association, the championships bring together 785 archers from 43 associations at the Parade Ground in Umsawli, including 23 from host state Meghalaya. Recurve qualification opened the championships on Thursday, with compound events beginning on Friday and Indian Round events from Saturday. The championships combine three national championships: the 46th Senior Recurve, the 22nd Senior Compound and the 33rd Senior Indian Round, for men and women. The event was inaugurated on Thursday by Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar at the Archery Ground in Umsawli.

The championships serve as a qualifying event for the National Games, with the top eight in each category making it through, and conclude on Tuesday with 15 gold-medal matches. Recent Asian Games medallists Kumkum Mohod, Chikitha Taniparthi, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Sahil Jadhav are among the stars competing, alongside experienced hands Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das. The 785 archers come from 35 states and union territories and eight other units, competing across six categories. On Friday, Delhi's Priyansh topped the men's compound qualification with 713, including 32 Xs, beating 18-year-old Mohit Dagar by a single point, while Punjab's Parneet Kaur led the women's qualification with 710. Chikitha Taniparthi was third in the women's compound qualification with 699. The recurve men's and women's team events, with the pre-quarter-final and quarter-final rounds, are scheduled for 16 November.