Guwahati, Jan. 13: Teenager Jayanta Talukdar of Assam has roared into the national archery theatre, bagging the first position in the Fita round of the singles event in the first Asian junior archery championship at the J.R.D. Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Sunday.

The 15-year-old, a trainee at the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur since 2000, rattled up an enviable 1,292 points turning out for India-A on Saturday. He bagged 293 points in the 90m, 320 in 70m, 332 in 50m and 347 in the 30m events. He topped the list in the 50m and 30m events.

Lauding his feat, a senior Archery Association of Assam official said Talukdar is cut out for bigger things if groomed properly. “Even now he is quite a handful for the regular senior national players. He is very talented,” he said.

The Guwahati-based sub-centre of Sports Authority of India had initially spotted the talented Talukdar.

Son of Ranjan Talukdar, joint secretary of the Guwahati Archery Association, the young archer is among the 16 players called for the preparatory camp for the national team for the world championship and the 2004 Olympics. Jayanta is seventh in the all-India rankings, ahead of veterans Limba Ram (eighth) of Rajasthan and Lalrem Sanga (12) of Mizoram.

Talukdar picked up from where he had left in the junior nationals, held at the same venue, where he had won three golds (90m, 30m and overall individual) and two silvers (70m and 50m) in the Fita event.

Another archer from the Northeast who hogged the limelight in the girls’ section was Talukdar’s Tata Archery Academy teammate Bansaralin Dhar. The Shillong girl totalled 1,276 points to finish first. She also took the 70m and 30m titles.

To bolster Assam’s prospects in the 2005 National Games, the archery association has instructed its affiliated units to complete the district-level meets for juniors, sub-juniors and seniors as soon as possible.