National camp for archers in Pune from August 25: SAI

A team of 16 recurve archers, alongwith four coaches and two support staff, will report to the Army Sports Institute in Pune for a national camp on August 25, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) announced on Thursday. The campers will be tested for COVID-19 and undergo mandatory quarantine inside the campus before the start of sporting activities.

Archers who will be joining the camp include Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das, B Dhiraj, Pravin Jadhav, Jayanta Talukdar, Sukhmanu Babrekar, Kapil, Vishwas, Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, L Bombayla Devi, Ridhi, Madhu Vedwan, Himani, Pramila Baria and Tisha Sancheti.

With Tarundeep, Atanu and Pravin through to the Tokyo Olympics next year, India's male archers have clinched the full quota for qualification while Deepika Kumari is presently the only woman archer from the country to have earned a quota.

"The guidelines of the health ministry as well as the SOP released by SAI, along with guidelines of the state government will be implemented on campus, while training is on," said SAI in its statement.

This follows news of return to training for India's badminton players in Hyderabad and the men's and women's hockey probables in Bengaluru. The men's hockey camp returned six positive tests for the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted sporting activities around the world. This includes captain Manpreet Singh and the players have been shifted to a nearby hospital after originally being quarantined in the SAI campus itself.