NEW DELHI: The eight-member Indian recurve archery team, including four in the women's category, will not compete in the Lausanne World Cup starting May 17 due to failure to get visas.
"The European nations are denying visas due to the second wave of Covid-19 in India. Even if we travel, there is a strict 10-day quarantine rule in Switzerland. With time running out, the best option was to skip the competition and focus on the Paris edition of the World Cup in June, which is also an Olympic qualifying competition," PramodChandurkar, secretary general of Archery Association of India (AAI), told IANS.
Recently, Indian relay teams couldn't participate in the World Relays held in Poland on May 1 and 2 as there were no direct flights from India. Even the Germany Embassy denied visa to the Indian hockey team to compete in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Pro Hockey League matches in Hamburg on May 22 to 23.
The men's recurve team has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics starting July 23. But the women's recurve team is yet to make cut for Olympics though in the individual category DeepikaKumari won an Olympic quota place in 2019.
"The national team did well in the just concluded World Cup Stage 1 in Guatemala City. The Indian team won three gold and one bronze. The archers on rejoining the national camp in Pune had to undergo seven days of quarantine. Participating in the Lausanne World Cup could have been a good practice session but then traveling to Europe and undergoing strict quarantine rules could also have been exhausting," Chandurkar added.
The archery World Cup Stage 3 is scheduled to be held in Paris from June 21 to 27. It is the last Olympic qualifying tournament for the archers. "We are doing our best to keep the archers focussed so that the women's team could also win a quota place for the Tokyo Olympics," said Chandurkar. IANS
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