Tarundeep and Rahul Banerjee train for London Olympics at Paljor Stadium, make space for local archers to train along with them

GANGTOK, 22 Aug: International archers Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee are presently in-training at Paljor Stadium here. The duo is working though a 10-day training session, benefitting from the weather conditions here in preparation for the London Olympics. They began training on 17 August and in a welcome gesture, they have taken in four archers from Sikkim to train with them and benefit from the experience.
“We are practicing for Olympics 2012 and chose Gangtok due to the weather condition here at present which is similar to what we can expect in the London Olympics next year. This experience should prove very beneficial for us,” said Tarundeep while speaking to media-persons during his practice session at Paljor Stadium today.
It was informed that the qualifying round for the Olympics will be held in June next year in USA.
He further mentioned that all major archery tournaments held in Europe are played in climatic conditions similar to Sikkim, which make the State ideal for development as conditioning and training centre for such tournaments.
He added that by sharing their training schedule with Sikkimese archers [as they are doing at present], they hope to boost their morale and confidence and also provide them technical expertise to upgrade bow-settings and learn new techniques.
Tarundeep also observed that archery skills were improving in Sikkim and that more youngsters were now taking to archery. All they needed was more guidance, he said. He added that for the promotion of archery, there was need for dedicated archery fields.
This was the second time in Sikkim for Rahul Banerjee, who has also been nominated for this year’s Arjuna award. The last time he was here was with his team to participate in the Junior Nationals held here in 2006.
Mr. Banerjee mentioned that although it was a short-period training, it has been very beneficial. He added that the pleasant weather has allowed them to do longer practice and said that if he got a chance to practice in Sikkim again, he would definitely return.
Speaking on Sikkimese archers, Mr Banerjee mentioned that they have great potential and also stressed on the need for separate archery fields and more equipment.
The duo also expressed their gratitude to the Sikkim Archery Association and the State government for their support and cooperation.
The SAA general secretary, Dr KB Gurung, informed that four Sikkimese archers were practicing with the duo and it will provide them a rich experience to learn new techniques and knowledge.
These four archers were Thinlay Bhutia, Yogesh Subba, Bhupen Rai and Pema Wangyal Bhutia.
Dr Gurung on behalf of the SAA and the people of Sikkim congratulated Mr Banerjee for getting the Arjuna Award.