File picture of archers at the Chatra Sing Teron archery range in Tepesia during the National Games. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, April 9: The Archery Federation of India has moved the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) to take over the Chatra Sing Teron archery range in the Tepesia Sports Complex on the city’s outskirts to promote the sport better.

The range was developed for the 33rd National Games held in February.

Speaking to The Telegraph, vice-president of the federation Robin Bordoloi, who holds the same position in the Assam Olympic Association, said he had received a “positive response” from the board authorities during a recent meeting.

“I have suggested the takeover by the petroleum sector because they have the potential to maintain and promote the sport, for which there is abundant talent in the Northeast in particular and the nation in general. My proposal to them was to take it over and convert it into an academy, which can help take the sport to newer heights,” Bordoloi said.

“The infrastructure, if developed into an academy, will be useful for holding coaching camps for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and other international events, including the Beijing Asian Games,” he added.

The former state sports minister, at whose insistence the archery range was set up at Tepesia, said, “The PSPB officials have promised to consider the proposal and approach the Assam government for the takeover”.

If the proposed academy materialises, it will be the second of its kind in eastern India after the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur.

Eastern India is a prime talent pocket for the sport.

As archery is not on the board’s list of disciplines, introducing it in promotional activities must precede the proposed takeover, a source in Oil India Ltd, a major constituent of the PSPB, said.

OIL had bent the rules once to absorb world number four archer Jayanta Talukdar at the request of the All Assam Students’ Union. Talukdar, however, did not join the petroleum giant.

The involvement of the corporate sector in the maintenance the new infrastructure was mooted by chief minister Tarun Gogoi, as the government has only limited avenues to generate revenue.

The state budget earmarks Rs 1 crore under the non-Plan head for the maintenance of stadia.