SAA’s Dr. Gurung elected AAI joint secy for NE

GANGTOK, 26 Nov: Sikkim Archery Association [SAA] general secretary, Dr KB Gurung, has been elected the joint secretary [North-East] of the Archery Association of India [AAI]. He was elected unopposed to the post during the AAI’s executive body election held earlier this month. This elevation makes him the first SAA member to get elected to the central body of the AAI.
The AAI elections were held on 08 November in New Delhi with retired Judge of Delhi High Court, Justice Kapoor, as Returning Officer.
Dr Gurung has been an SAA executive member since 1990 and has been serving as its general secretary for the past one and half years. Earlier, AAI had appointed him as an Observer for a national tournament held in Shillong and had also deputed him to Shanghai with the Indian squad as a team official for the World Archery Championship last year.
Speaking to media persons today, Dr Gurung mentioned that the AAI has recognized the sincere effort and hard work of the SAA by providing him such a prestigious post. In this regard, he stressed that the new post for him in the national body was the result of the teamwork of the SAA led by its president, TT Bhutia. He thanked all members of the SAA and especially the PHE Minister and SAA president, Mr Bhutia for their constant support till date.
Responding to media queries, Dr Gurung mentioned that this new post in the central executive body would help the state in further promotion and development of the archery here. He further mentioned that this new post will also provide him national and international exposure which would ultimately benefit archery in the State.
“With this new responsibility, I will try my best to bring out raw talent from this region and try and attach talented young archers from Sikkim to renowned archery academies of the country,” he said.

Indian Olympic Archery team to train in Gangtok

GANGTOK, 16 May: The Indian Olympic Archery Team comprising of Tarundeep Rai, Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee, Deepika Kumari, L  Bombyala Devi, Chekrovolu Swuro, Limba Ram (Chief Coach), Ravi Shankar(Coach) and Purnima Mahato (Coach) arrived in Gangtok today to prepare for the London Olympic Games, informs a press release issued by Sikkim Archery Association, general secretary, Dr KB Gurung.
The team will be accompanied by Secretary General, Archery Association of India [AAI], Paresh Nath Mukherjee. AAI had requested SAA to hold the camp in Gangtok since it is much cooler than Kolkata here and the wind conditions at Paljor Stadium would be the same as in London, the release mentions.
SAA will arrange facilities such as the ground, field equipments and manpower for the camp. The release adds that SAA is highly honoured to have this opportunity to host the Indian Olympic team and warmly welcomes them to Gangtok.  Members of SAA were at Rangpo to welcome the team today.
In another release, SAA has congratulated international archers Tarundeep Rai and Chunda Sherpa on being conferred the Sikkim Khel Samman on the occasion of the 37th State Day. The Association has also congratulated Rai for winning the Silver Medal in Men’s Team Recurve Event at the 2nd World Cup, Antalya, Turkey in the second week of May 2012.

Samdong-Yangthang defeat Lyempu 7 to win President’s Cup Traditional Archery Tourney

GANGTOK, 11 Mar: Samdong-Yangthang has lifted the 3rd edition of President’s Cup Traditional [Bamboo] Archery Tournament played at Sikkim Archery Association archery field here at Tathangchen.
In the final match played on Saturday, Samdong-Yangthang defeated Lyempu 7 by 35 points to 25 points.
A total of 29 teams from different parts of the state had taken part in the tournament, which was organized by the Sikkim Archery Association [SAA] from 11 February.
Sameer Rai of Samdong-Yangthang was declared as the Man of the Series, while Samso Bhutia of Lyempu 7 received the Man of the Match trophy.
PHE Minister, TT Bhutia, who is also the SAA president, gave away the trophies, certificates and cash prizes. The winners received the cash prize of Rs 30,000, while the runner-up team took home Rs 20,000.

Traditional Bamboo Archery Tourney begins at Tathangchen

GANGTOK, 12 Feb: The Pakyong VII team shot enough targets to defeat Lama Star [Changay] in the second match of the Traditional Bamboo Archery Tournament-2012 for the President’s Cup at Sikkim Archery Association [SAA] archery field here at Tathangchen today.
In the second day match on Sunday, Pakyong archers scored 35 points to send Lama Star out of the tournament, who managed to score 17 points.
The tournament started on Saturday with SAA vice-president, Sonam Dadul Bhutia, as the chief guest. The inaugural match was played between Siniolchu VII and Demazong VII, in which the former team scored 35 points first to become the winners.
Likewise, Lamaten will take on Sangtong in the third match on Monday.
Twenty-eight teams from across the state are taking part in the tournament which is being organized by the Sikkim Archery Association.

Bamboo Archery tourney from today

GANGTOK, 10 Feb: Siniolchu VII will take on Denzong VII in the inaugural match of the Traditional Bamboo Archery Tournament- 2012 for the President’s Cup at Sikkim Archery Association [SAA] Archery Field at Tathangchen tomorrow.
The inaugural day will have the former MLA, Kunga Zangpo Bhutia as the chief guest, who will be accompanied by Tathangchen Councilor, Lashey Doma Bhutia as the guest of honour. The tournament is being organized by the SAA.
SAA publicity secretary, Karma Denzongpa informed that a total of 28 teams from across the state are taking part in the tournament. He informed that the team members have to be in proper and complete traditional dress.
The inaugural match will be start at 10 AM.
A total of thirty teams have confirmed their participation in the Traditional Bamboo Archery Tournament- 2012 for the President’s Cup at SAA Archery Field at Tathangchen. The tournament organized by Sikkim Archery Association will be inaugurated on 11 February.  Apart from a team from Pedong Monastery, all the other participating teams are from across the state.
SAA has decided to draw the fixture of the tournament on 08 February at 10 AM and interested teams can confirm their participation before the time of drawing the fixture.

30 teams sign up for Traditional Bamboo Archery Tournament

GANGTOK, 06 Feb: A total of thirty teams have confirmed their participation in the Traditional Bamboo Archery Tournament- 2012 for the President’s Cup at SAA Archery Field at Tathangchen. The tournament organized by Sikkim Archery Association will be inaugurated on 11 February.  Apart from a team from Pedong Monastery, all the other participating teams are from across the state.
SAA has decided to draw the fixture of the tournament on 08 February at 10 AM and interested teams can confirm their participation before the time of drawing the fixture.

SAA congratulates Tarundeep on No 1 national ranking

GANGTOK, 30 Jan: Sikkim Archery Association [SAA] has congratulated Tarundeep Rai on becoming the No 1 ranked archer in Recurve bow in the country. The outstanding archer from Sikkim has made it to the top with his performance in the recently concluded Senior National Archery Championship held at JRD Tata Sports in Jamshedpur.
SAA President and PHE Minister, TT Bhutia along with executive and other members of SAA congratulated Tarundeep for holding the No 1 position in the country on behalf of the archers and people of Sikkim, informs a press release issued by SAA publicity secretary, Karma Denzongpa.
SAA has further expressed its best wishes to Rai for future competitions and to continue to hold the No 1 position in the country and make Sikkim proud.

State Archery Championship concludes

GANGTOK, 20 Jan: The two-day State-Level Archery Championship organized by the Sikkim Archery Association concluded today here at Paljor Stadium.
The Olympic Round was played today, wherein in the Recurve finals, Dev Raj Rai won the gold, while Bhupen Rai and Yogesh Limboo won the silver and bronze medals respectively.
In the Compound finals, Norden Bhutia won the gold medal followed by Rapden P Kazi and Karma Loday Bhutia winning the silver and bronze medals respectively.
In the Indian Round finals, Bimal Rai, Bikram Rai and Pranay Gurung won gold, silver and bronze medals respectively in the boy’s event, while in the girl’s event, Pemkit Lepcha won the gold medal followed by Ongchuk Choden Bhutia and Pema Diki Bhutia bagging the silver and bronze medals respectively.
The prize distribution ceremony had Sports Minister, NK Pradhan as the chief guest while Sports Secretary, Karma P Bhutia was present as the guest of honour. Also present were, Sikkim Archery Association [SAA] president, PHE Minister, TT Bhutia, Bhaichung Bhutia and officials from Sports and Youth Affairs and executive members of the SAA.

Archers Ready!

STATE ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIP GETS UNDERWAY AT PALJOR STADIUM
GANGTOK, 19 Jan: Thirty archers from across the State are participating in the State-Level Archery Championship which began today at Paljor Stadium. The two-day tournament is being organized by the Sikkim Archery Association [SAA]. The championship has 5 archers in Compound, 6 in Recurve and rest in the Indian Round events.
The inaugural day of the championship had the SAA president, PHE Minister, TT Bhutia, as the chief guest, who encouraged the archers to compete with full commitment and aim for success. He further encouraged them to remain consistent in their practice and aspire to earn higher accolades for the State.
The championship was also a selection trial for compound and recurve archers for the upcoming Senior National Archery [Compound & Recurve] Championship scheduled to be held at Jharkhand from 25 to 31 January.  Four archers each in Recurve and Compound event will be shortlisted to represent the state in the upcoming championship.
In the Recurve finals, Bhupen Rai stood on the top with 1095 points, followed by Devraj Rai [1062], Yogesh Limboo [1032] and Suresh Subba [1025] on second, third and fourth places respectively. Likewise, in the Compound finals, Karma Loday Bhutia emerged as the champion with 1300 points leaving Norden Bhutia [1221], Gyaltsen Lachungpa [1175] and Rapden P Kazi [1082] on second, third and fourth positions respectively. All these eight archers have now been selected for the above said National Archery Championship.
The final day will have the Olympic Rounds and will have the Sports Minister, NK Pradhan, as the chief guest and Sports Secretary, Karma P Bhutia as the guest of honour.

Traditional Bamboo Archery tournament next month

GANGTOK, 19 Jan: Sikkim Archery Association [SAA] has announced its plan to organize the Traditional Bamboo Archery Tournament- 2012 for the President’s Cup at SAA Archery Field at Tathangchen from 05 February.
SAA publicity secretary, Karma Denzongpa informed that this will be the third consecutive time that the association is organizing the tournament since it was started in 2010. He further informed that only bamboo bows are allowed in this tournament which will have different teams participating.
Mr Denzongpa mentioned that with the aim to preserve the traditional form of archery in the state the SAA under the guidance of its president had started this tournament. He further mentioned that traditional archery is still very popular in different rural parts of the state, so this tournament will offer these archers a platform to showcase their talent at the state-level.
The tournament has a cash prize of Rs 30,000 for the winning team and Rs 20,000 for the runners-up.
The entry fee for the tournament is Rs 1000 per team. Interested archers need to give their participation confirmation by 01 February and the fixture will be drawn on 02 February at 3 PM at SAA Archery Field at Tathangchen. Interested may contact on 94750-77687, 95938-83672 and 96099-44165 for further details.

6-member archery team readied to represent State at Junior Nationals

GANGTOK, 02 Dec: A six-member team of the Sikkim Archery Association [SAA] will be representing the State at the 34th edition of Junior National Archery Championship [Recurve, Compound & Indian Round] scheduled to be held from 04-09 December at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex, Shillong.