Olympian recurve stars Deepika Kumari and Dhiraj Bommadevara, the world record-holding compound duo of Rishabh Yadav and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, along with veteran Abhishek Verma, will headline the inaugural Archery Premier League (APL), to be held in October at New Delhi’s Yamuna Sports Complex.
The 11-day league will feature India’s top names as well as several world-ranked international archers, who will be distributed among six franchises. Archers have been slotted across categories based on their World Top-10, Top-20 standings and recent Archery Association of India (AAI) trials.
Four-time Olympian Deepika (World No. 3) and Paris Olympian Bommadevara (World No. 14) confirmed their participation, alongside compound specialists Rishabh (World No. 9) and Jyothi (World No. 3). Verma (World No. 10), Prathamesh Bhalchandra Fuge (World No. 11), Priyansh (World No. 16) and Parneet Kaur (World No. 17) are also in the fray.
Veteran Olympians Tarundeep Rai (Rank 4) and Atanu Das (Rank 5) will feature in recurve, while women’s recurve archers include Ankita Bhakat (Rank 2) and Bhajan Kaur (Rank 6). Other top recurve participants include Neeraj Chauhan (Rank 2), Rahul (Rank 3), Rohit Kumar (Rank 6), Mrinal Chauhan (Rank 7), Sachin Gupta (Rank 8) and Krish Kumar (Rank 9), while women contenders include Gatha Anandrao Khadake (Rank 3), Sharvari Somnath Shende (Rank 4), Basanti Mahato (Rank 5), Kumkum Anil Mohod (Rank 7), Tisha Punia (Rank 8) and Anshika Kumari (Rank 9).
Among compound men, Aman Saini (Rank 1), Ojas Pravin Deotale (Rank 5), Sahil Rajesh Jadhav (Rank 6), Chittibomma Jignas (Rank 8) and Pulkit Kajla (Rank 9) will compete, while the women’s lineup features Prithika Pradeep (Rank 3), Taniparthi Chikitha (Rank 4), Avneet Kaur (Rank 5), Madala Surya Hamsini (Rank 6), Swati Dudhwal (Rank 7), Madhura Dhamangaonkar (Rank 8) and Pranjal Rajendra Salve (Rank 9).
AAI president Arjun Munda said the presence of elite Indian archers would “drive eyeballs to the sport and ensure a high level of competition.”
“We are delighted to have the presence of India’s best archers in the first season of the Archery Premier League. We are confident their presence will drive eyeballs to the sport and ensure a high level of competition. It will further make the league an exciting venture for the fans around the nation,” Munda said.
AAI secretary general Virendra Sachdeva added that India’s success on the world stage had made the APL possible.
“Indian archers have long been making their mark on the world stage. It is because of their success we are able to be in a position to launch the first edition of Archery Premier League. We are excited to have them participate in this elite competition and make the tournament a must-watch for fans around the world,” Sachdeva said.
The event, which will see recurve (70m) and compound (50m) matches staged together under lights, has the backing of World Archery, World Archery Asia and the Sports Ministry.