Tokyo Olympics: India archers take aim at Gambhir over turning archery arena into cricket ground
Indian archers Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari on Thursday pleaded against snatching their training ground and turning it into a cricket stadium. The Olympics-bound archers took objection to a Twitter post by BJP MP Gautam Gambhir in which he said that Yamuna Sports Ground was set to host the Pro cricket tournament.
FollowBJP MP Gautam Gambhir has issued a clarification after his post on the Yamuna Sports Ground in East Delhi being used for a cricket tournament triggered outrage among archers who are headed for the Tokyo Olympics later this month.
Indian archers Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari on Thursday had pleaded against snatching their training ground and turning it into a cricket stadium. The Olympics-bound archers took objection to a Twitter post by BJP MP Gautam Gambhir in which he said that Yamuna Sports Ground was set to host the Pro cricket tournament.
The Yamuna Sports Ground was used for archery during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Delhi Development Authority owns and operates ground.Â
Deepika appealed on the micro-blogging site, saying: "I became Deepika in this ground in 2010 Commonwealth Games. Please do not turn this archery ground into a cricket ground. This is one of the best archery grounds in Asia. International Archery tournaments can happen here."
Atanu Das further added, "Please do not make this Archery Ground to a Cricket Ground. We have very few good grounds, and this is one of the best Archery grounds in Asia. 2010 Commonwealth Games Happened here. Where Should We archers go?"
Deepika Kumari won three gold medals, including one with Atanu Das in the recurve mixed team event in the recent Archery World Cup.
Hours after the archers aired their grievance, Gambhir sought to clarify that the Yamuna Sports Ground had not been converted but only upgraded.Â
Archery and other sports will continue like before, the East Delhi BJP MP said, adding that being a sportsman himself, he will never let anything hamper the growth of any sportsman.
However, the upgrades that have been made to the ground narrate another story. Media reports said that the ground is now equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities required to organise Ranji trophy and IPL matches. A pitch for practice has been laid. Four main pitches for the matches are reportedly under preparation.
