For the first time in recent years, the Archery Association of India (AAI) seems to have fired a blank shot. Call it an error of judgement or the fear of procedural delays, the men’s recurve team will benefit by default with a trip to Dover to participate in the 4th World Cup Archery along with the women’s squad from July 31 and August 5. But the sad part is that the team that will go to Dover is the same old lot that failed to qualify for the Beijing Games.

The men’s squad comprises Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Somai Murmu, while the women’s team will have Chekrovolu Swuro, Dola Banerjee and Bombayla Devi. They are leaving for England later on Sunday night from Kolkata.

The trip was meant to give the teams much-needed exposure before the Asian Championships at Xian (China) between September 14 and 19. AAI had announced two sets of players, men and women, for the World Championships in Germany and the World Cup in Dover as the gap between both events, according to AAI president Vijay Malhotra, was “negligible”, though the world meet got over on July 7.

But the AAI could have reversed its decision in the light of the men’s squad failing to qualify in Germany. With only two individual spots on offer for the Indians in the continental event in September, AAI could have prepared the team for that event rather than sending it to Dover.

This selection has left a number of archers waiting on the wings a little bewildered and disappointed. A top archer who refused to be named said: “If the AAI had been serious about Olympic qualification, it could have acted more positively by conducting another set of trials to select a fresh set of players.”

... contd.