Indian archers outshine cricketers at Lord's

London: Lord's and cricket are synonymous. But the headquarters of the Gentleman's Game is shedding some of its stiff upper lip image. A new sport has made its debut at Lord's—archery.

Team India held the MCC Cup proudly. But if you think this is the women's cricket team, you are in for a surprise.

This is the Indian archery team who was at the home of cricket to participate in a three-nation tournament against Great Britain and China. The bait—one that not many can resist—a chance to compete at Lord's.

"We have known Lord's with cricket tournaments only. But when we heard of the archery event here, we were very excited," says Dola Banerjee, gold medallist at the MCC Cup.

And there were those who couldn't resist the comparison with the Indian cricket team, who only a fortnight ago struggled to draw the Test against the English here.

"They said even a bunch of girls left as winners from here, but the cricketers saved themselves because of the rains. That made us very happy," says Suvarna, another gold medal winner.

This of course was a taster for the 2012 Olympics in London. Lord's will be hosting the archery event during the Games.

"We want to do that event as well as we possibly can. That's why events like today are really important, so we can learn some lessons from them and then, come 2012, put up a really outstanding archery event at the London Olympics," says Ian Wilton, of the MCC.

Following the success of the archery event in the upcoming weeks, Lord's will not only host a skating event, but also stage a play written by William Shakespeare.

(With inputs from Rupha Ramani in Lord's)

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