Punjab, having no hereditary relation with the bow and arrow except in the period of saint-soldier Guru Gobind Singh, has become a force to reckon with in archery at the national level. Infact, Punjab has performed so excellently in the recent past in national archery meets that it has turned a threat to the supremacy of the states having substantial tribal population well versed in the art of wielding the bow and arrow because of their heritage.

In the junior and sub-junior category competitions in this event Punjab has already relegated the states of Limba Rams and other such stars to second place while in the senior category Punjab’s performance is also worth noticing.

In the sub-junior category, Ravi Kumar of Punjab is a national champion in the individual category for the past two years. He is shaping to be one of the best archers in the country in the next few years. His best score at the national meet was 921 out of 1080. In the same category, Jaineet is runner-up in the girls section at the national meet.

Punjab is champion in the sub junior girls and boys section while in the junior category Punjab is runners-up in both boys and girls sections. In the sub-junior category. Punjab girls Nisha Single, Jaincet and Sandeep and Ravi, Neeraj. Ashwani and Gagandeep in the boys’ section dished out fine performances at various national meets to be on the top.

In the junior girls competition in which the Punjab team was declared runners-up, the state was represented by Prem Lala, Amandeep while in the boys section Amorbir Kang, Bhupinder Kurnar, Ravi and Jagatbir performed well to win the second place in national ranking. Because of their performance, the government has sanctioned archery scholarship of Rs 3600 for Ravi, Prem Lala and Amandeep.

Punjab has gained the supremacy despite the fact that under the Special Area of Games Scheme, the Sports Authority of India is providing all kinds of facilities to the states, including Bengal, Bihor, Manipur, Meghalaya and Orissa as these states are known for natural talent in archery and Sports Authority of India wanted to convert this talent into medals for the country.

What is the most striking stature of archery in Punjab is the fact that all the work, including providing training. Holding camps. sending cams and arranging equipment. Funds etc is being done by Mr Kulbir Singh Kang. a senior PCS officer who himself has passed a degree in master of physical education from the famous Laxmibai College of Physical Education, Gwalior (MP) and is a reputed archer. Mr. Kang says that as no expert coach is available in this part of the country so he has to himself train the raw archers. Hemant, a veleran archer, who himself participates in national competitions, assists Mr. Kang in imparting coaching. According to Mr. Kang archery is a very costly sport as all the technical equipment, including sight, limbs, handle, pressure button, arrow rest stabilizer, string, guards etc has 10 be imported as quality material of this kind is not available in the country.

For training archer for a competition takes two to three years, the fundamentals of this game arc very complex and for learning it requires tremendous concentration coupled with dedication and patience. For training purposes, a low quality bow costs Rs 15,000 but for a competition, the bow costs about Rs 40.000 to Rs 50.000. During training a large number of costly arrows are lost by trainees as arrows shot off target are difficult to trace.

Recently. Punjab devised a novel method to popularize archery in the side. A fashion show was organized at Patiala in aid of archery. Top models, including Shikha Sarup, moved down the ramp with bow and arrow. Punjob will host a national championship in archery soon.

Article extracted from this publication >>  January 13, 1995