Archery arena made operational for Invitational Commonwealth Games - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Archery arena at Delhi's Yamuna Sports Complex got operational on Saturday for the five-day Invitational Commonwealth Games Archery Test event beginning on March 8. Archery Association of India (AAI) President and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said that this has been made possible despite delays in the construction of the stadium. "There have been a lot of delays in the preparation of the stadium and that is why the players and the association cannot take full advantage of the home ground. Last October (in 2009) we had to organize a test event here but because of delays the venue had to be shifted to Kolkata," said V K Malhotra. "Since past-one-and-a half months, we have pressurized the authority and the result is that the ground is now ready. The inside of the stadium is yet to be fully constructed and become functional. But they will have to complete it by the Commonwealth games in October," he added. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) formally inaugurated the archery arena on Friday, but Malhotra said that a large part of the construction work is yet to be completed. Over 100 archers, from 10 countries, are expected to participate in the Archery test event, which is being organised by the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) in collaboration with the AAI. The sports complex was initially scheduled to be ready by December 2009. At present, however, only the grandstand, with the capacity of 1,500 spectators, is complete while some work remains on training and competition areas. Infrastructure facilities like change rooms and medical center among others are also incomplete. Malhotra further said that once the complex is complete it should be handed over to the Archery association, so that they can manage it and the players get a platform to practice for free. "The stadiums should be handed over to federations so that the players can practice there, undertake coaching and training and they can avail all the facilities which they are entitled to," added Malhotra. The Archery Test event that will end on March 12 will be a dress rehearsal for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games scheduled from October 3 to 14 2010.