Randeep Hooda and Lin Laishram on a Mission

Prithviraaj Yodhas name eight archers for APL Season 2, led by two world-ranked internationals, as the co-owners chase the title they missed by one shoot-off.

By the PurePlay India Sports Desk

ARCHERS · 4 MEN, 4 WOMEN

APL Season 2, 8–18 October 2026, People’s Plaza, Hyderabad.

Prithviraaj Yodhas, the franchise co-owned by actors Randeep Hooda and Lin Laishram, have announced their eight-member squad for Season 2 of the Archery Premier League (APL). It is led by World No. 1 compound archer Andrea Becerra and World No. 3 recurve archer Matias Grande, with Ebix Group as title sponsor.

Archery Premier League · Season 2

8–18 October 2026 · People’s Plaza, Necklace Road, Hyderabad

Prithviraaj Yodhas squad and team members in the franchise kit at the APL Season 2 squad announcement — The Prithviraaj Yodhas team in the franchise’s kit ahead of APL Season 2.

The squad

According to the franchise, the squad is split evenly between men and women and will compete in both the Compound and Recurve categories. The rankings below are as given in the team’s release.

Overseas

Andrea Becerra (World No. 1, compound) · Matias Grande (World No. 3, recurve)

India

Abhishek Verma · Kirti Sharma · Thirumuru Ganesh Mani Ratnam · Gatha Anandrao Khadake · Raj Kaur · Juyel Sarkar

The league

Organised by the Archery Association of India (AAI) and backed by World Archery and World Archery Asia, the APL describes itself as India’s first franchise-based professional archery league. Season 2 began on 8 October at People’s Plaza, Necklace Road, Hyderabad.

48Archers in Season 2

36 / 12Indian / international, from 10 countries

6Franchises over 11 days

15sShot clock per arrow, 5s faster than international standard

Matches run each evening from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm under lights. The league stage is a double round-robin, with each team playing ten matches. The top four go through to the semi-finals, and the final is on 18 October. Matches are streamed on SonyLIV and Archery+.

Owners and sponsor

Lin Laishram is a former national-level archer who won the Junior National Championship in 1998, according to the release.

Prithviraaj Yodhas co-owners in team kit in front of a Prithviraaj Yodhas and Ebix branded backdrop — At the Prithviraaj Yodhas announcement, in front of the franchise and Ebix backdrop.

“Last season, we came very close to winning the title, missing it by just one shoot-off. This year, we have an even stronger team with some of the best international and Indian archers. Our goal is to go all the way and win the title.”

Randeep Hooda & Lin Laishram · Co-owners, Prithviraaj Yodhas

The co-owners added that they are glad the APL is inspiring young Indians, especially girls, to see archery as a professional career, which they called just as important as winning.

“The Archery Premier League is creating a strong platform for archers from India and around the world to compete at the highest level while bringing greater visibility to the sport.”

Ebix Group spokesperson · Title sponsor, Prithviraaj Yodhas

Who else is in the field

The league lists World No. 1 recurve archer Marcus D’Almeida, Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Mete Gazoz, Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Casey Kaufhold, and compound archers Mike Schloesser and Ella Gibson among the international names. Indian archers include Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Bommadevara Dhiraj and Jyothi Surekha Vennam.

The ambition

“Missing it by just one shoot-off” is how the owners describe last season. This year’s goal is the title.

The Sports Desk view: two world-ranked archers give the Yodhas a clear top end, but six of the eight places go to Indian archers, and that is where the league’s value for the sport lies. Competing under lights, on a 15-second clock and next to Olympic-level archers is experience that Indian archers rarely get at home. How the Indian archers perform in the double round-robin will say more than the squad list.

— PurePlay India Sports Desk