Shillong, Aug 11: The Meghalaya State Archery Championship 2026 began today at the Sports Authority of India Centre on the NEHU campus here with more than 200 archers and officials taking part.
Organised by the Archery Association of Meghalaya (AAM), the three-day event will see archers from all ages compete in Indian Round, recurve and compound categories, both team and individual.
AAM is pleased that this year all 12 districts in the state are represented at the championship. Today was given over to Indian Round events. The first medals will be presented tomorrow.
Isawanda Laloo, Secretary of the Department of Sports & Youth Affairs, was the chief guest on the opening day and she was joined by Meghalaya State Olympic Association General Secretary Finely L Pariat and Assistant Director of Sports & Youth Affairs Khroobok Passah.
Laloo and Pariat tried their hand with recurve bows (pictured) and commented on the immense strength that is required to pull the bowstring.
Speaking at the opening, Laloo said that the state government, sports associations and athletes are “thick in preparations for the 39th National Games”, which Meghalaya is scheduled to host next year.
She referred to AAM’s success at the 1st Khelo India Tribal Games earlier this year – both of Meghalaya’s two gold medals were won in archery, along with one bronze. “That shows that all the efforts of the association are paying off,” Laloo said. “On your slender shoulders lies the hope that this legacy will be carried forwards and translated into many more medals in future,” she added, speaking directly to the assembled archers.
Laloo also said that two Centres of Excellence are being developed in Garo Hills and Khasi-Jaintia Hills, which is a dream of the Chief Minister.
The keynote address was delivered by Matsiewdor War Nongbri, the Chief Advisor of AAM, a renowned former archer and archery judge.
She announced that the Senior National Archery Championship will be held in the state later this year and Laloo added that this will be considered as a test event for the National Games.
Giving a brief history of archery, War Nongbri said that the practice has been important to humans, including Meghalaya’s communities, for 50,000 years as a means of survival but is now being kept alive as a sport and leisure activity. Modern archery developed in the first half of the 20th century before finally being recognised by the International Olympic Committee in the 1960s.
Meghalayans like the late Woodward Sohliya were vital to the development of modern archery in India and he was the architect of the Indian Round.
“After tireless striving, we stand at a much more comfortable place now,” War Nongbri said. “And this is thanks to the vision of the Chief Minister, Sports Minister and the Department of Sports & Youth Affairs, who have given AAM the best of the best in coaches, performance directors, other personnel and equipment ahead of the National Games.”
“We promise not to leave any stone unturned to reach the pinnacles of glory that every archery seeks,” she concluded.
(Archery Association of Meghalaya photo)