Top archers to compete for six franchises; Jyoti, Deepika, Dhiraj top Indians in inaugural APL

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) World number ones Andrea Becerra (compound) and Brady Ellison (recurve) are among 48 top archers who will compete in the inaugural Archery Premier League (APL), the first-ever franchise based event, at the Yamuna Sports Complex here from October 2 to 12.

Other top foreign archers featuring in the six-team league are world number six Matias Grande of Mexico (recurve), and women numero uno Mike Schloesser of Netherlands (compound).

The Indian archers were picked based on world rankings as well as Archery Association of India's (AAI) recent selection trials.

In recurve, world No. 3 Deepika and world No. 14 Dhiraj headline the field, alongside veterans Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das.

Other women recurve archers include Ankita Bhakat and Bhajan Kaur, while the men's line-up features Neeraj Chauhan, Rahul, Rohit Kumar, Mrinal Chauhan, Sachin Gupta and Krish Kumar.

In compound, world record-holder Jyothi Surekha Vennam (No. 3) and world No. 9 Rishabh Yadav lead the charge. They are joined by veteran Abhishek Verma (No. 10), Prathamesh Bhalchandra Fuge (No. 11), Priyansh (No. 16) and Parneet Kaur (No. 17).

Among others, Aman Saini, Ojas Deotale, Sahil Rajesh Jadhav and Chittibomma Jignas will represent the men, while Prithika Pradeep, Avneet Kaur and Madhura Dhamangaonkar are part of the women's field.

The APL, launched by AAI, will feature six teams -- Prithviraj Yodhas (Delhi), Rajputana Royaks (Rajasthan), Chola Chiefs (Tamil Nadu), Kakatiya Knights (Telengana), Chera Archers (Jharkhand and Mighty Marathas (Maharashtra).

Each team will comprise eight archers -- six Indian and two foreigners, both male and female. The total prize purse of the league is Rs 2 crore.

The teams have been picked on Thursday following an eight -round players' draft.

Each squad comprises eight members -- four men and four women. Teams can include up to two foreign archers, with at least one of them required to be part of the playing four.

The unique format of the league will witness both recurve and compound archers battling it out alongside each other. Both the recuve and compound ranges will be of Olympic standard -- 70m and 50m respectively and the event will be played under lights.

The league will witness mixed team duels in recurve and compound. Round robin fixtures will see three matches per day, each lasting 20 minutes. The arrow shooting time has been reduced to 15 seconds from the internationally prevalent 20 seconds.

The AAI hopes to change the face of the sport through this league.

"We have rich history in archery, an ancient sport. We have won medals in every competitions -- be in World Cup, World Championships, Asian Championships, Commonwealth Championships but one medal is still missing -- the Olympics, and I am confident this league will help us in getting that in future," AAI secretary general Virender Sachdeva said during the players' draft ceremony, which was also attended by AAI presiedent Arjun Munda.

APL Director and the brain behind the league, Anil Kamineni said the event has got great response worldwide and world's top archers are eagerly waiting for it.

"We have already told World Archery that it will be an annual affair from now and to keep it their calendar," Kamineni said.

He, however, clarified the reason behind Korean archers' absence from the inagural edition.

"The Korean archers too were very eager to participate but this year they can't as the league is colliding with their selection trials. They said if they had known the dates earlier they could have shifted their trials." Teams: Prithviraj Yoddhas: Matias Grande, Andrea Becerra, Abhishek Verma, Gatha Anandroo, Priyansh, Sharvari Shende, Krish Kumar, Pranjal Salve.

Chero Archers: Mathias Fullerton, Katharina Bauer, Rahul, Prithika Pradeep, Atanu Das, Madala Hamsini, Sahil Rajesh, Kumkum Mohod.

Kakatiya Knights: Nico Wiener, Elia Canales, Neeraj Chauhan, Jyothi Surekha, Rohit Kumar, Avneet Kaur, Jignas, Tisha Punia.

Chola Chiefs: Brady Elison, Meeri-Marita Paas, Rishabh Yadav, Deepika Kumari, Tarundeep Rai, Taniparthi Chikitha, Pulkit Kajla, Anshika Kumari.

Mighty Marathas: Mike Schloesser, Alejandra Valencia, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Parneet Kaur, Aman Saini, Bhajan Kaur, Mrinal Chauhan, Madhura D.

Rajputana Royals: Mete Gazoz, Ella Gibson, Prathamesh Fuge, Ankita Bhakat, Ojas Pravin, Basanti Mahato, Sachin Gupta, Swati Dudhwal. PTI SSC AT AT AT