Tarundeep, Rahul Banerjee train for Olympics

Gangtok: Archers Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee are presently undergoing a 10-day training at Paljor Stadium here, in preparation for the London Olympics.

They began their training on 17 August and they have taken in four archers from Sikkim to train with them and benefit from the experience.

“We are practicing for Olympics 2012 and chose Gangtok due to the weather condition here at present which is similar to what we can expect in the London Olympics next year. This experience should prove very beneficial for us,” Tarundeep told media-persons during his practice session.

The qualifying round for the Olympics will be held in June next year in USA.

He said that by sharing their training schedule with Sikkimese archers, they hope to boost their morale and confidence and also provide them technical expertise to upgrade bow-settings and learn new techniques. This Sikkim experience was the second time for Rahul Banerjee. The last time he was here was with his team to participate in the Junior Nationals held here in 2006.

Banerjee said that although it was a short-period training, it has been very beneficial. He added that the pleasant weather has allowed them to do longer practice and said that if he got a chance to practice in Sikkim again, he would definitely return. SAA general secretary K B Gurung said that four Sikkimese archers were practicing with the duo and it will provide them a rich experience to learn new techniques and knowledge.

PTI