This
traditional sport is perhaps man’s oldest pursuit as 50,000 years ago the bow and
arrow was the only weapon used in hunting and self defence. Honed over centuries, the
skill in recent times has become a competitive sport. Modern bows and arrows are made of
either wood, plastic or fibre, while in ancient times bows and arrows were made of horns,
sinews or lacquer.
Though competitive archery dates back to 12th Century
B.C., archery as an organised sport was evolved during third Century A.D. Archery was
introduced as a competitive sport early in the Modern Olympic movement, but dropped after
the 1920 Games. It was re-introduced in the Munich Olympics in 1972 and became a part of
the Asiad movement during 1978 at Bangkok.
In India, the Archery Association was formed in 1973 and the
first National Championship held thereafter. India’s first major international
participation was the 1986 Seoul Asian Games. The Indian archers comprising Sanjeev Kumar
Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Pradeep Kundu and Rajat Halder finished fourth. India’s first
international medal was earned when Limba Ram won the bronze in the Fifth Asia Cup
Championships held at Calcutta during January 1988. The country’s first international
gold medal was achieved during October 1989 in the Asia Cup at Beijing when India
surprised world leaders South Korea.
Sports Authority of India’s introduced the "Special
Area Games" with a view to spotting archery talent in the country. |