Archery World Cup: Fresh Archers make up India's recurve squad

The coming season of the Archery World Cup would see a lot of young and upcoming archers taking the field as Recurve archer Atanu Das is the only one consistent member of the squad. The other three team members of the Recurve team are made up of Sukhchain Singh, Ajay and Jagdish Choudhary. The three have only one international appearance between them. 'This is a new team, young fresh blood,' Das was quoted as saying by World Archery, 'It's good news that archers are coming up the pathway. We are growing in India.' The veteran will begin the 2018 season with a World Ranking of 21 and will look to assume to role of a leader and mentor for the rest of the team. He is yet to grab a podium finish in the individual category at a major tournament and he will be looking to work on that jinx.

Also read: Archer Deepika Kumari redefines stereotypes in Netflix's 'Ladies First' The Recurve Women's lineup, however, does not see much of a shuffle in comparison as Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, Promila Daimary and Bombayla Devi Laishram make up the team- all familiar names with a history of performing well in major world level tournaments. One can expect some major medals to come from this department. A strong compound team is also in order with names like Rajat Chouhan, Abhishek Verma, Chinna Raju Srither, Sangampreet Bisla in the men's team and youngsters Divya Dhayal and Muskan Kirar emerging as prominent faces in the women's team alongside more seasoned named like Madhumita Kumari and Jyothi Surekha Vennam. Atanu Das, however, is riding on a wave of confidence while, at the same time, trying not to let the pressure get to him. As quoted by World Archery, 'I'm working harder and smarter to make the jump. I've found mistakes from the last few years and I've started to fix those, one-by-one," he said. We wish the contingent all the best for the upcoming season.