By Admin 
Some of the top Indian and foreign archers were among the 48 players drafted into six franchises as the inaugural edition of the Archery Premier League was launched here on Thursday.
The 10-day competition will be held from October 2-12 in a double round-robin format at the Yamuna Sports Complex followed by semifinals and final. With eight archers per team – four men and women each – including two foreigners, the Archery Association of India is hoping to make the sport more viewer-friendly with tweaks in format and presentation.
Top Indians including Deepika Kumari and Dhiraj Bommadevara will be the main draws in recurve while Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Rishabh Yadav are the top-ranked Indians in compound. Among the foreign participants will be World No. ones Andrea Becerra (Mex) and Mike Schloesser (Ned) in compound and Brady Ellison (USA) in recurve. Powerhouse South Korea, however, has decided to skip the event.
“For the first time we will have combined mixed teams of recurve and compound archers competing together. The shooting distances will be Olympic standard — 70m for recurve, 50m for compound – and we will be holding three matches every day under lights. Each match with four archers each will last 20 minutes with the shooting time reduced to 15 seconds,” APL Director Anil Kamineni explained.
World No. 3 in compound and mixed team world record holder Jyoti Surekha Vennam was optimistic about the APL. “A lot of people don’t know what competitive archery actually is. Only when more people come into the sport will we be able to get new talent. You learn from every tournament and I am sure it will be same here,” Jyothi said.
The teams: Prithviraj Yodhas (Delhi): Recurve: Matias Grande, Krish Kumar, Gatha Anandrao, Sharvari Somnath; Compound: Abhishek Verma, Priyansh, Andrea Becerra, Pranjal Salve; Rajputana Royals (Rajasthan): Recurve: Mete Gazoz, Sachin Gupta, Ankita Bhakat, Basanti Mahato; Compound: Prathamesh Fuge, Ojas Deotale, Ella Gibson, Swati Dudhwal; Kakatiya Knights (Telangana): Recurve: Neeraj Chauhan, Rohit Kumar, Elia Canales, Tisha Punia; Compound: Nico Wiener, Jignas, Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Avneet Kaur; Mighty Marathas (Maharashtra): Recurve: Dhiraj Bommadevara, Mrinal Chauhan, Alejandra Valencia, Bhajan Kaur; Compound: Mike Schloesser, Aman Saini, Parneet Kaur, Madhura D; Chero Archers (Jharkhand):Recurve: Rahul, Atanu Das, Katharina Bauer, Kumkum Mohod; Compound: Mathias Fullerton, Sahil Rajesh, Prithika Pradeep, Madala Hamsini; Chola Chiefs (Tamil Nadu): Recurve: Brady Ellison, Tarundeep Rai, Deepika Kumari, Anshika Kumari; Compound: Rishabh Yadav, Pulkit, Meeri-Marita Paas, Taniparthi Chikitha.