Archery Premier League aims to give exposure to archers, foreign coach to be appointed keeping LA2028 Olympics in mind: AAI president

New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): At the launch event of the inaugural Archery Premier League, the president of the Archery Association of India (AAI), Arjun Munda, said that the purpose behind the league is to give the "hidden talents" exposure to world-class talent and also added that, keeping the Olympics 2028 and 2032 in mind, a foreign coach will be appointed for Team India.

48 archers were divided among six franchises today as the Archery Association of India officially launched the inaugural edition of the Archery Premier League at a grand event in New Delhi. 36 Indian and 12 foreign archers were picked in the draft as all teams formed competitive squads for the first season. as per a press release from APL.

Speaking to the media, Arjun said, "We are starting Archery Premier League in India. India is the first country to start an archery league. The purpose behind this is to give exposure to our archers, how to make archery popular in India, but across the world as well. India is a country where a lot of people live in rural areas and there is many hidden talents there."

"The league is trying to introduce a good volume of archery talent, who can rebuild the country's future in the sport. The team's have been selected and so were players in a transperant process," he added.

During the World Archery Championships this month, India secured a total of two medals. India secured their first-ever gold medal in the men's compound archery team event, while Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha Vennam won silver in the compound mixed team event, which will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.

Speaking on India's historic exploits in the World Championships, Arjun said that the players are working hard and they are getting great guidance from their coaches.

"There is a talent hunt programme by the Central government and NTPC. There is a lot of work going on at the national, state and district levels. The results are visible. We are preparing for the Los Angeles Olympics 2028. With the 2028 and 2032 Olympics, we will also be appointing a foreign coach. The Indian government is doing a lot of work," he added.

Virendra Sachdeva, the secretary-general of India's archery governing body, said that the league is a big opportunity for the players.

"It is a sport associated with our culture. It is related to our emotions. There is not a person who did not pick up a bow and arrow as a child. We had been trying to start off the league since years, talked to World Archery and the Asian body about it, everyone liked the idea. Players will be coming from abroad and our players will get plenty of motivation by playing with them at their home soil," he said.

Continuing on India's exploits in archery during the World Championships, Virender thanked the central government, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Our PM has a vision, that India will progress if they excel in sports. World Cup, World Championships, Youth Championships, Asian games, Asian Championships. There is no place where India has not won a medal. Olympic is left for us. We will win an Olympic medal," he added.

The franchises - Prithviraj Yodhas (New Delhi), Mighty Marathas (Maharashtra), Kakatiya Knights (Telangana), Rajputana Royals (Rajasthan), Chero Archers (Jharkhand), and Chola Chiefs (Tamil Nadu) - stacked up their squads for the upcoming season with stellar line-ups in a thrilling draft that saw several twists and turns.

The athletes were draughted across eight rounds comprising three compound and three recurve archers each. To maintain fairness, the sequence of picking an athlete by a franchise was decided by a random draw across all eight rounds.

Below find the full squads for the franchises:

Teams:

Prithviraj Yodhas (Delhi): The team for Delhi picked star Abhishek Verma, World No. 10, along with World No. 1 Compound Women archer Andrea Becerra, who was part of the Compound Women Team that won Gold medal at the 2025 World Archery Championships in Gwangju, part of the team that won the Bronze medal at the Compound Mixed Team event, and also claimed Gold medal at Compound Women event.

Recurve Men: Matias Grande (World No. 6), Krish Kumar (World No. 1)

Recurve Women: Gatha Anandrao (AAI Rank 3), Sharvari Somnath (AAI Rank 4)

Compound Men: Abhishek Verma (World No. 10), Priyansh (World No. 15)

Compound Women: Andrea Becerra (World No. 1), Pranjal Salve (AAI Rank 9)

Mighty Marathas (Maharashtra): World No. 1 Mike Schloesser, who was part of the Compound Mixed Team that won the gold medal at the 2025 World Archery Championships, has been picked by the franchise, along with dual-Olympic medallist Alejandra Valencia. Along with Indian Olympian Dhiraj, the Marathas have formulated a solid squad. Aman Saini, selected by the franchise, was also part of the Compound Men Team that won a gold medal at the recently concluded 2025 World Archery Championships in Gwangju.

Recurve Men: Bommadevara Dhiraj (World No. 14), Mrinal Chauhan (AAI Rank 7)

Recurve Women: Alejandra Valencia (World No. 3), Bhajan Kaur (AAI Rank 6)

Compound Men: Mike Schloesser (World No. 1), Aman Saini (AAI Rank 1)

Compound Women: Parneet Kaur (World No. 17), Madhura D (AAI Rank 8)

Kakatiya Knights (Telangana): The Knights bolstered their squads with world-record holder Jyothi Surekha, who was also part of the Compound Mixed Team that won the Silver medal at the 2025 World Archery Championships, and Olympian Elia Canales, who made a name in 2018 with a Silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games and was part of the Recurve Mixed Team that won the Gold medal at the 2025 World Archery Championships in Gwangju.

Recurve Men: Neeraj Chauhan (AAI Rank 2), Rohit Kumar (AAI Rank 6)

Recurve Women: Elia Canales (World No. 10), Tisha Punia (AAI Rank 8)

Compound Men: Nico Wiener (World No. 3), Jignas (AAI Rank 8)

Compound Women: Jyothi Surekha (World No. 3), Avneet Kaur (AAI Rank 5)

Rajputana Royals (Rajasthan): With Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Mete Gazoz and world No. 2 Ella Gibson amid their ranks, the Royals have formed a stellar squad. Prathamesh Fuge, selected by Rajputana, was also part of the Compound Men Team that won the gold medal at the recently concluded 2025 World Archery Championships in Gwangju.

Recurve Men: Mete Gazoz (World No. 7), Sachin Gupta (AAI Rank 8)

Recurve Women: Ankita Bhakat (AAI Rank 2), Basanti Mahato (AAI Rank 5)

Compound Men: Prathamesh Fuge (World No. 11), Ojas Pravin (AAI Rank 5)

Compound Women: Ella Gibson (World No. 2), Swati Dudhwal (AAI Rank 7)

Chero Archers (Jharkhand): Chero Archers picked veteran Olympian Atanu Das and further bolstered their recurve line-up with German Olympian archer and world medallist Katharina Bauer. They also were able to get hold of Mathias Fullerton, who won the silver medal at the Men's Compound event at the World Archery Championships 2025.

Recurve Men: Rahul (AAI Rank 3), Atanu Das (AAI Rank 5)

Recurve Women: Katharina Bauer (World No. 9), Kumkum Mohod (AAI Rank 7)

Compound Men: Mathias Fullerton (World No. 2), Sahil Rajesh (AAI Rank 6)

Compound Women: Prithika Pradeep (AAI Rank 3), Madala Hamsini (AAI Rank 6)

Chola Chiefs (Tamil Nadu): Chola Chiefs were able to pick five-time Olympic medallist USA's Brady Ellison, who recently was part of the Recurve Men Team that won the Silver medal at the 2025 Archery World Championships in Gwangju, along with Indian Olympians Tarundeep Rai, and Deepika Kumari. They also picked World Record holder Rishabh Yadav, who was also part of the Compound Men Team that won Gold medal at the recently-concluded 2025 World Archery Championships in Gwangju, and was also part of the Compound Mixed Team that won the Silver medal in the same tournament.

Recurve Men: Brady Ellison (World No. 1), Tarundeep Rai (AAI Rank 4)

Recurve Women: Deepika Kumari (World No. 3), Anshika Kumari (AAI Rank 9)

Compound Men: Rishabh Yadav (World No. 9), Pulkit (AAI Rank 9)

Compound Women: Meeri-Marita Paas (World No. 5), Taniparthi Chikitha (AAI Rank 4)

After the completion of the draft, the AAI officials also launched the official anthem of the league along with a dynamic visual package and also announced popular Indian actor and filmmaker Mr Ram Charan as the brand ambassador.

President of the Archery Association of India Arjun Munda said, "The launch of the Archery Premier League is a watershed moment for the sport in the country. Through this league, we wish to expand our reach across India, including rural and tribal regions. We are confident our archers will gain tremendous exposure through the league, which will prepare them for future events. In 2023 and 2024, India finished in second position in World Rankings, and now our goal is to move towards the first position."

Secretary General of the Archery Association of India, Virendra Sachdeva, said, "We are elated to see that all the franchises are well balanced and are quite happy with their squads. We are emotionally attached to the sport, as it is associated with our historical and cultural roots. It took us many years to fulfil our vision for the league, and we hope now that the league propels us to greater achievements, including Olympic medals."

Anil Kamineni, Director of Archery Premier League, further added, "With support from World Archery, we were able to bring the world's top archers to compete alongside our top archers in India. The league will have a spectacular opening on Dussehra Day, October 2nd, with Brand Ambassador Shri Ram Charan at Ram Leela Grounds in Delhi and will be a great way to showcase and increase the sport's popularity." (ANI)

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