The Archery Association of India (AAI) will hold its elections on January 18, ending a long-drawn limbo due to feuding factions within the association. In accordance with an order passed by the Delhi High Court in October and later modified in November, 31 state associations are part of the electoral roll.
State units representing Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland are absent from the roll.
Factionalism between two groups led by V.K. Malhotra and B.V.P. Rao had led to two elections being held on June 9 in New Delhi and Chandigarh in defiance of World Archery’s threat of suspension. Archery’s world body went through with its threat in August.
The suspension cast a shadow over Indian archers’ participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the country’s flag. Indian archers had won a gold, two silver and four bronze at the Bangkok Asian Championships but they did so as neutral athletes under World Archery.