Archery Premier League announces Indian participants for inaugural season

The Archery Association of India (AAI) on Monday confirmed the list of Indian participants for the inaugural Archery Premier League, scheduled to be held in October at the Yamuna Sports Complex, New Delhi.

The first-of-its-kind franchise-format tournament will feature both recurve and compound archers, including Olympic medallists and world-ranked players.

Recurve stars Deepika Kumari (World No. 3) and Dhiraj Bommadevara (World No. 14) headline the lineup, joined by Olympians Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das. Other key names in women’s recurve include Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, Gatha Khadake, and Sharvari Shende, while Neeraj Chauhan, Rahul, Rohit Kumar, and Sachin Gupta lead the men’s list.

In compound, world record holders Jyothi Surekha Vennam (World No. 3) and Rishabh Yadav (World No. 9) will compete alongside Abhishek Verma, Ojas Pravin Deotale, Prathamesh Bhalchandra Fuge, Priyansh, Parneet Kaur, and Aman Saini, among others.

AAI President Arjun Munda said the league will boost visibility for the sport in India, while Secretary General Virendra Sachdeva added it would raise competitive standards and attract global attention. The tournament will run for 11 days and feature six franchises with top Indian and international archers competing under lights, with recurve shooting at 70m and compound at 50m.

The Archery Premier League has backing from World Archery, World Archery Asia, and the Sports Ministry of India, marking a major step in promoting professional archery in the country.