Mighty Marathas, Rajputana Royals, Chola Chiefs win as Archery Premier League kicks off amid fanfare

New Delhi [India], October 3 (ANI): The inaugural Archery Premier League (APL) kicked off at the Yamuna Sports Complex in the national capital, but not before rain threatened a washout. However, the skies cleared in time for the arrows to fly, which saw three exhilarating matches of the first round-robin phase.

The evening on Thursday began on a glamorous note, with global superstar Ram Charan, a renowned figure in the cinema world, gracing the opening ceremony as the brand ambassador of APL. Also present on the occasion was another film star, Randeep Hooda, who co-owns the Prithiviraaj Yodhas.

After Ram Charan met all the players of the six squads that lined up under the lights in the playing arena, the first match pitted the Chola Chiefs against the Chero Archers.

The unique format of the league involves two recurve and two compound archers in a four-member team, with two male and two female archers. All four in a team have to shoot two arrows each in a set within a stipulated time of 120 seconds. The team securing five or more points first in a best-of-three-sets match is declared the winner of the game.

Chola Chiefs edged out Chero Archers to secure the opening win of the APL Season 1, winning 5-1. In a closely contested match, the Chiefs won the first set 77-73 and moved to four points by winning the second set 75-74. The two teams split the points in the third set, which ended in a tie at 76-76.

The second match of the day had Kakatiya Knights facing Mighty Marathas, and the Marathas overwhelmed their opponents 6-0, winning the three sets 73-66, 77-72, 78-71.

The day concluded with Rajputana Royals blanking Prithviraaj Yodhas 6-0. They won the three sets 75-72, 74-72, 77-74.

Following her win in the first match, India's Olympian Deepika Kumar, playing for Chola Chiefs, said to ANI, "I was wondering when our league would come. Finally, it is here, and I'm playing. I even won my first match. I am very excited, especially since foreign players are joining us and playing alongside us... Everyone is very excited to play with us as a team... This format is very different and fast. It's also good and a little interesting because you do not have time to think, because you only get 15 seconds per match. Compounding requires more time... And you do not have time to think--you have to go, shoot, and come back--that is it." (ANI)

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