Vice President and Secretary General of Thailand's NOC opens 1st Asian Grand Prix

On 15 February 2012 Major General Charouck ARIRACHAKARAN, Vice President and Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Thailand under his Majesty’s Royal Patronage, opened the 1st Asian Grand Prix which is the first major Outdoor competition of the year. The Grand Prix will run until Sunday, 19 February. Close to 250 archers from 29 countries will compete for the medals. There are six countries from outside of Asia which include France, Great Britain, Russia, Switzerland, Romania and Spain. The President of the Organising Committee Sanguan KOSAVINTA welcomed the participants and asked the Vice President and Secretary General of the NOC to open the event. The ceremony was attended by the World Archery 1st Vice President, Mario SCARZELLA, the World Archery Secretary General Tom DIELEN and most of World Archery Asia’s Council Members. After the official speeches there was a very impressive Lion dance as well as a representation by the National Team of Cheerleaders. Tomorrow, 16 February, the competition will start with the 70m (recurve) and 50m (compound) Qualification Rounds: the recurve women and compound men will start in the morning, followed by the compound Women and recurve men in the afternoon. In the recurve women's category the numbers four, five and six of the world ranking list are present in Bangkok: Berengere SCHUH (FRA), Deepika KUMARI (IND) and Inna STEPANOVA (RUS). On the men's side the highest rank is Khairul Anuar MOHAMAD from Malaysia, 7th in the world, followed by the two French athletes Romain GIROUILLE and Gael PREVOST, who are ranked 11th and 12th. World Archery Communication