THE ARCHERY PREMIER LEAGUE (APL), a six-franchise competition, is scheduled to make its debut this October at the Yamuna Sports Complex in New Delhi.
Backed by World Archery and World Archery Asia, the 11-day event will feature top recurve and compound archers from India and overseas.
India’s leading names, including Deepika Kumari, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Abhishek Verma, headline the inaugural season, the Archery Association of India (AAI) confirmed on Monday. The league will also welcome top-ranked international archers, with their names expected to be announced shortly.
The APL will follow a draft system rather than an auction. Each squad will comprise eight members — four men and four women — with a maximum of two overseas archers, one of whom must be part of the playing four. Indian players have been selected based on world rankings and AAI’s recent trials.
Recurve archers will compete at 70m, while compound archers will shoot at 50m, in a team-based format under floodlights.
In recurve, world No. 3 Deepika Kumari and world No. 14 Dhiraj Bommadevara lead the line-up, alongside veterans Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das. They are joined by Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, Neeraj Chauhan, Rahul, Rohit Kumar, Mrinal Chauhan, Sachin Gupta and Krish Kumar.
In compound, world record-holder Jyothi Surekha Vennam (No. 3) and world No. 9 Rishabh Yadav spearhead the field. They are supported by Abhishek Verma (No. 10), Prathamesh Bhalchandra Fuge (No. 11), Priyansh (No. 16) and Parneet Kaur (No. 17), along with Aman Saini, Ojas Deotale, Sahil Rajesh Jadhav, Chittibomma Jignas, Prithika Pradeep, Avneet Kaur and Madhura Dhamangaonkar.
AAI president Arjun Munda said, “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.”
