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Shooting/Archery in India

The game of Archery in India is mainly governed and supervised by the Archery Association of India (AAI). This is the central body for the promotion and management of Archery in India. AAI is a member of the International Archery Federation, or FITA (Fédération Internationale de Tir à l`Arc). The AAI has been spearheading efforts to popularize the game in India and it is also one of the founder members of the Asian Archery Association (AAA). The AAI conducted the first National Meet under the FITA rules in New Delhi in 1973. More than 50 Archers took part in the meet and since then, the sport of Archery has been going from strength to strength, in India.

The game of archery is making rapid strides in India with more and more youngsters taking to the game. With international laurels pouring thick and fast, India is fast emerging as an archery powerhouse. With a bunch of young talents like Jayant Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee making waves at the big stage, India looks all set to break the Korean stranglehold on the World Archery Championship. The fact that Indian finished second to the mighty Koreans at the 2005 World Championship is ample proof of their growing stature. At the home front, archery has found favor among a wider section of the society with modern equipment coming in and with job opportunities opening up in a big way for the sport's stars. Traditionally dominated by champion archers from tribal communities, today a major chunk of the archers come from non-tribal areas with good educational backgrounds.

Several kinds of Archery games are played in India. Broad-head Round is a kind of Archery game that features Archers shooting broad head-tipped arrows. They shoot the arrows through single-sheet or 2-D cardboard cutouts of animals that remain hung between two wooden poles, and strung in the air by bendable wire, with a large dirt mound behind it as a backstop. In the Bionic Buck kind of Archery game, the Archers attempt to shoot through a small hole (varies from two to four inches in diameter) in the kill area of a cast iron steel deer target. The Darts is a kind of Archery game that is like a big darts game. It has a greater distance and use a proportional sectorized target.

Another kind of Archery game is Golf Archery that is actually a variation of clout archery. This form of Archery uses the same rules and field as the classic golf, except the ball replaced by an arrow and the clubs replaced by a bow. The Night Shooting form of Archery game consists of Archers going out on a short, one round course. The Archers use flashlights to light their way through the course and also to shine the targets which often have reflective tape or paint on them. Padded Arrow Sport is another kind of Archery game in which actual bow and arrow is used. The head of the arrows are wrapped in open-cell foam padding to make it a `safety arrow`, in this kind of Archery game. In the Running Buck form of Archery game, the main objective of the Archers is simply to hit a moving 3D animal target. Another kind of Archery game is the Turkey Tester. It is actually a contest to see who can take the head off the target. A durafoam 3-D target is used in this form, with a detachable head on its body.