APL Season 2: Kakatiya Knights cap off round-robin campaign as table-toppers

Hyderabad: Telangana franchise Kakatiya Knights capped off a memorable round-robin campaign at home with a thumping 6-0 win against Mighty Marathas in Season 2 of the Archery Premier League (APL) in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Both teams are already assured of a place in the top two coming into the match, which meant this was just a dress rehearsal for their clash in the first qualifier on Sunday. But the Knights ensured they would go into that match high on confidence.

For Knights, their lead compound archers Nico Wiener and Jyothi Surekha Vennam were flawless during the match, shooting 60 out of 60 despite gusty conditions at the People’s Plaza on Necklace Road.

Marathas, who opted to rest their recurve star Dhiraj Bommadevara at the start, never quite found their rhythm and registered sub-70 scores in the first two sets. They managed to improve in the third set to score 74 as Dhiraj and Alejandra Valencia came on, but Knights hit a superb 78 and brought out the celebrations. Knights had also rested their in-form recurve star Neeraj Chauhan.

The win augurs well for them on Sunday, when they face Marathas again to decide who the first finalist will be.

Archery Premier League (APL), the world's first franchise-based archery league, is initiated by the Archery Association of India and comprises six teams and a total of 48 archers, with 36 Indians and 12 elite international stars.

Meanwhile, Juan Carlos Holgado, 1992 Olympic gold medallist for Spain and World Archery Executive Director, acknowledged AAI’s efforts in making this league a success and said other countries should use the APL as a case study in bringing compound and recurve archers together in an entertaining format that is broadcast-friendly.

“There are not many federations that have the power, the muscle, the financial resources to put this in place,” Holgado said. “World Archery is happy to support this. Hopefully, some of the countries take a similar model, but I don't see this happening in the short term.

“I'm sure that other countries, Korea, for example, and the United States, are watching what is happening and start thinking what we could do in our events to make it more interesting for spectators. This mix of compound recurve, this team spirit, this identity with the culture of the country is a very good concept. I'm sure someone will start talking and thinking about how to implement some part of it, and we will see what will come next,” he said.

On Sunday, action will begin with a rematch between Mighty Marathas and Kakatiya Knights in a contest that will decide the first finalist of the season. The loser of that match will shoot in the second contest against the winner of Eliminator 1, which takes place on Saturday night. And then to conclude the exciting season, it’ll be time for the grand finale.

SCORES -- DAY 10:

Match 1: Kakatiya Knights 6-0 (77-69, 72-64, 78-74) Mighty Marathas

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