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Talk about the bow and the arrow and the first thing that strikes you is Indian Mythology - Drona, Arjuna, Karan, Eklavya and many more figures who are said to be masters of the art of Archery. Pity that none could participate in the either the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games. Historically, as evidenced by researchers, arrows existed 64,000 years back in South Africa in the Sibudu Caves. The arrows were previously launched by something called the Atlatl, which was eventually replaced by the Bow. The bow is believed to be conceived in the late Paleolithic or early Mesolithic period. Before the advent of the Gunpowder, Archers were the chief architects of combat. History suggests that civilizations had large troops of archers in their armed forces, which often proved decisive in wars.

The skill of propelling pointed sticks called arrows was predominantly a hunting technique besides being used in wars. The years when archers were used in warfare might be long gone now, with the development of firearms; but the skill has survived and still used in hunting and as a sport in various regions of the world. The sport of archery involves shooting arrows at a target with the assistance of a powerful bow. The target is usually circular consisting of concentric circles. The archers achieve high scores by shooting as close to the centre of the target as possible. The archer with the highest total of individual scores wins. The Olympic Games consist only of ‘Target' Archery where competitors need to shoot at a specific target from various distances. The other type of Archery is Field Archery where competitors shoot at different targets spread across a field or a course, from unknown distances. Field Archers use bows that look like the traditional ones.

Modern Bows are made of carbon or fiber glass and consist of a ‘stabilizer' and a ‘sight'. Stabilizers are attachments that keep the bow steady while shooting. Arrows usually consist of a sharp metal tip at the front and a furrow at the back so as to fit over the bow-string. The targets are usually made of straw ropes sewed together. Coloured papers or canvas is attached to make the target.

Target archery is bound by a definitive set of rules:

• Leaving the crossbow, any bow can be used to compete.
• Arrows must consist of distinct crests in order for the archer to be identified.
• Arrows must be shot only after being signaled to do so.
• A maximum of six arrows can be shot at the specified target. Any other shot shall not be scored.
• The shots must be completed in a sequence, with the first shot being from the longest distance.
• Scores from the highest to the lowest are recorded in sequence.
• Distances Shot from men are: 90m (300 feet), 70m (230 feet), 50m (165 feet), 30m (100 feet). And 70m, 60m, 50m, 30m for women.
• Arrows can be retrieved only after being signaled to do so.

Target archery consists of target faces with a diameters of 122 cm and 80 cm. The 122 cm face consists of a circle in the center of a 24.4 cm diameter surrounded by four concentric measuring bands 12.2 cm in breadth. The 80 cm face consists of a circle in the center of 16cm diameter surrounded by four concentric measuring 8 cm in breadth. The colours of both targets outwards from the center are gold, red, blue, black and white. A line not more than 2mm in width divides two zones of equal width. Such dividing lines can only be fully inside the higher scoring zone. Dividing lines between colours cannot be used to divide black and white, and black and blue colours. The outermost edge of the white may be marked by line, measuring not more than 2 mm in width, and within the scoring zone. The centre of the Gold circle is called the ‘Pinhole' and is marked with a cross (X), with the lines measuring a maximum of 2 mm in width.

Archery made its Olympic debut in Paris in 1990. It has since been competed in 13 editions of the Games. Governed by the International Archery Federation, it has had 83 different nations compete at the Olympic level. The women's event was added only later in 1904. Longbow was the preferred bow at that time because of its ease of use. The only and most important factor for Archery's failure was its ability, or the lack of it, to attract audiences. After 1920, it was finally brought back to the Olympics in 1972, where the individual events for both men and women were contested in a double FITA (Federation Internationale De Tir L'Arc) round competition. Finally in 1988, the team event was included and the Grand FITA Round format was used. Head to head matches started with the 1992 edition of the Olympics and have continued ever since.

South Korea dominates the Olympic World Records list with world records in 3 out of the 4 individual events - 72, 18 and 12 arrows events, with Im Dong-hyun, Park Kyung-mo and Lee Chang Hwan taking the honours. Australian Tim Cuddihy holds the 36 arrow record. It also has the team record for the 216 arrows and 27 arrows event, with the 52 arrow event record held by U.S.A.

Surprisingly, Delhi 2010 will only be the second time Archery will feature in a Commonwealth Games event, previously held at the 1982 edition. In 1982, Mark Blenkarne from England and Kiwi Neroli Fairhall won Gold in the men's and the women's event respectively. Neroli Fairhall deserves a special mention as she was the first Paraplegic competitor in the Olympic Games.

How about India's chances at the upcoming Commonwealth 2010? The answer - Very Bright. With World Champs South Korea and the ever so competent China not part of the Commonwealth of Nations, India are looking forward to dominating the Archery event come October. With Senior Olympians like Tarundeep Rai and Dola Banerjee and cadet World Champion Deepika Kumari, Team India is an exciting mix of experienced campaigners and exciting young talent. Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai make a formidable men's Recurve team, who are high on their Gold Medal triumph in the World Cup Stage 4, Shanghai. Dola Banerjee and L Bombayala Devi are also top performers in the women's team, and a medal each is expected of them in the Recurve event. Although the compound event is relatively new to the Indian Squad, expectations are pretty high in the event.

With the archery team promising big, backed by their recent World Cup showing, Archery is one event, spectators cannot afford to miss at Delhi.