Absence of Koreans takes sheen off inaugural Archery Premier League

Kolkata, Aug 29 (PTI) There will be no South Korean participation in the inaugural Archery Premier League, denying Indian archers a chance to "test" themselves against their biggest nemesis in the world's first-ever franchise competition in the sport.

South Korea, the undisputed powerhouse of world archery and India's perennial stumbling block at the Olympics, has declined to send its stars for the October 2-12 league in Delhi as they would be "busy" preparing for the season-ending World Cup Final slated in Nanjing (Oct 17-19).

That means there will be no Lim Sihyeon, the world number one who holds an all-win record against Deepika Kumari in three encounters, or reigning Olympic champion Nam Suyhyeon (world No 8), who dashed the Indian ace's hopes of a maiden Olympic medal in Paris 2024 by ousting her in the quarterfinals en route to the gold.

In the men's recurve too, there will be no Kim Woojin, the reigning Olympic champion and world No 2, or Lee Woo Seok, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist and world No 8.

The 33-year-old Woojin also has an all-win record against Deepika's husband and former India No. 1 Atanu Das, while Lee has a similar record against India's current No. 1 Dhiraj Bommadevara from two matches.

The APL, which was orginially conceptualised in 2020, was designed as a platform for Indians to "rub shoulders with the very best" and provide the kind of high-pressure competition that they often falter in at global events.

But the absence of Koreans, who have been a perennial thorn in the flesh, will deprive them of that vital match exposure.

AAI treasurer Dr. Joris Paulose Ummacheril, who has been actively working behind the scenes to launch the first-ever APL, blamed it on the World Cup Final.

"The competition will have only top-10 archers in the world. So from the South Koreans, Lim, Nam and Kang Chae Young (world No 10) from the women’s recurve, and Kim Woojin (world No 2) and Lee Woo Seok (world No 9) from the men's recurve fell in the category," Ummacheril told PTI.

"But most of them were busy for the season-ending World Cup Final. Only one female archer (Kang Chae Young) wanted to come but she was hesitant to come alone as there was none else from South Korea." "So Indians will be robbed of vital practice with the Koreans. We could have got other Koreans, but the tournament rules stipulate that we need to bring only top-10 foreigners, so others didn't fall in the criteria. Maybe next time we can tweak the rules," he reasoned.

The absence of the Koreans will be somewhat compensated by the presence of USA's Brady Ellison, the reigning world No 1 men’s recurve archer and a five-time Olympic medallist, as announced on Friday.

The American will be joined by Mete Gazoz (Turkey, world No 8), the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, in the men's recurve line-up.

Mexico’s Alejandra Valencia (world No 5), who won a bronze medal each at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, will also compete in the women’s recurve section.

That makes it three confirmed names in recurve, with three more to be filled.

"We are in talks with three more archers from Germany, Brazil and France but they are yet to confirm participation," Dr Ummacheril revealed.

The compound line-up, however, looks far stronger, with Mexico's Andrea Becerra (world No 1), Great Britain’s Ella Gibson (world No 2), and Estonia’s Meeri-Marita Paas (world No 5) in the women’s field.

The men’s list includes Netherlands’ Mike Schloesser (world No 1), Denmark’s Mathias Fullerton (world No 2), and Austria’s Nico Wiener (world No 4).

The tournament will feature only mixed team competition comprising four archers -- two in recurve and two in compound, with one male and one female in each section.

Every franchise will have two foreigners but only one can play in a match.

The AAI treasurer further revealed that the six franchises have been finalised and will be formed based on a players' draft in the second week of September.

The franchises will represent Ranchi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, and either Mumbai or Jaipur. Team Ranchi will be owned by the Tata Archery Academy. PTI TAP AT AT