KASKI, Sept 7: Every day, Tilak Punmagar of Pokhara, a policeman, reaches and attends archery training at the archery ground in Pokhara Stadium. With his bow and arrows, he aims and shoots at a stationary circular target along with other four players.
The players are gearing up for the 19th Asian Games scheduled to take place in Hangzhou of China from September 23. The closed-camp training session started from the third week of July.
Punmagar for the first time participated in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia four years ago. Then he made a national record by shooting arrows from around 65 meters. This time, he is hopeful of improving and breaking his own previous record.
"I did not have the confidence when I took part in the Games for the first time in Indonesia. However, I had good scores. This time, I have prepared a lot and I believe I will do well with practice and past experiences," he said.
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Nepal’s archers have been participating in the Asian Games since its 16th edition. However, they are yet to win medals. In their Asian Games debut, they reached the quarterfinals. Since then, they are yet to make it to the group stage.
In the 19th Asian Games, Nepal will participate in recurve and compound forms of archery. Punmagar and Manju Bajgain will participate in recurve while Yogendra Sherchan and Emayienga Rai will compete in compound event.
Sherchan is hopeful of reaching the semifinals. He however is disappointed due to the lack of adequate resources and the sport equipment. As the government has not provided adequate sport equipment, he has by himself managed them, said Sherchan.
"The National Sports Council has not provided enough sport equipment. We have demanded sets of bow and arrows. Without their availability, I am practicing after buying a bow for Rs 250,000 myself. Our performance would have improved had we been provided with required sports equipment," he said.
This is his first entry for the Asian Games, and he is excited about it. "I feel the Asian Games is like the Olympics," he said.
For the betterment of the sport, he viewed that foreign coaches are required. Trainer for the closed-camp training session is Basanta Thakali.
Physical fitness of players along with practical and theoretical aspects have been taken into account in the training session, said Thakali.
The four archers were selected for the Games from a total of 20 participants, he said.
Nepal will be competing in 29 different sports disciplines in the upcoming Asian Games.
(RSS)
