Mumbai, Dec 17 (IANS) Ace Indian archers Atanu Das and L.Bombayla Devi on Saturday called for more tournaments to help young archers fetch medals at the Olympics.
The duo was in the city for the Sports for All (SFA) initiative at the Dr. D.Y. Patil Sports Stadium, wherein more than 5,000 children from over 120 schools celebrated the spirit of sports.
The 24-year-old Atanu, who was the lone Indian male archer at the Rio Olympics, stressed on having more tournaments to give archers the feel of an actual match situation.
"Ahead of the Olympics, I practised in wind, in rains. I gave my 100 percent but did not succeed in winning a medal at Rio. We definitely need to play more tournaments. The more we play, it increases the chances of winning medals," he told reporters.
Hailing the efforts of SFA, Atanu felt that the platform provided by them to the kids will help in making future champions.
"I have never seen such kind of sporting extravaganza being organised at the school level. SFA has been successful in bringing in so many young athletes participating in different sporting categories."
"This will only help them in developing their skills and opportunity to perform at the biggest stage in school sports and most importantly get noticed in the field of sports," he added.
Echoing his words, the 31-year-old Bombayla said more initiatives like SFA could turn the country into a sporting powerhouse.
"The facility at SFA is world class and the way it has been organised augurs well for the future of sports in India."
"Being a sportsperson myself, I realise the importance of having a system like this in place and I am quite sure that the initiative will help in spotting lot of talents and give India a pool of young athletes," she said.
