The state archery championship is back after a hiatus of three years.

Jharkhand Archery Association (JAA), which has become fully functional, is gearing up to host the 11th state meet between December 5 and 9 at JRD Tata Sports Complex.

The championship will be played in mini, sub-junior, junior and senior categories.

Over 650 archers from different districts are expected to take part in the event, which will witness recurve, compound and Indian (shooting with traditional bows and arrows) rounds.

The last championship was held in Bokaro in 2012.

A sum of around Rs 15-20 lakh is required for organising the upcoming meet. JAA always had sufficient funds at its disposal but the money remained parked in the bank and could not be withdrawn as a full-fledged state body was not in place. The stalemate arose after the post of state secretary fell vacant following the exit of Sanjeeva Singh in May 2009.

"We could not produce cheques in the bank as they required signatures of either president/secretary and the treasurer. Secretary was not in the scene and president (Sanjiv Paul) was not approachable as he got transferred to Calcutta. Money could not be withdrawn from the bank with the signature of the treasurer alone," a JAA functionary explained.

The crisis was solved after JAA went to polls on June 30. Tata Steel vice-president Sunil Bhaskaran and its sports wings head Charles Borromeo were elected president and secretary, respectively.

State association vice-president L. Murty said things would proceed in right earnest as a full-fledged body was in place. "Now, a full-fledged committee has taken over and we can look forward to conducting the state events at regular intervals. Money is not a problem as we have sufficient funds," he told The Telegraph.