India says delayed pay for archery coach Dave Cousins will be cleared

The American helped India secure its first Olympic quota in compound archery but had gone unpaid for more than three months. The national federation and the Sports Authority of India said a bank technical issue behind the delay had been resolved.

Dave Cousins took charge of India’s compound archery programme in May. At the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, the team won three gold medals and a bronze, while mixed pair Sahil Jadhav and Chikitha Taniparthi earned the country its first Olympic quota place in the discipline. Their final against South Korea was tied 157-157 before India won the shoot-off.

Cousins had threatened to leave India if his outstanding pay was not cleared, PTI reported. The Archery Association of India and the Sports Authority of India acknowledged the delay and said the issue had been resolved. Federation treasurer Joris Paulose Ummacheril attributed it to a problem involving the SAI and said the payment would be made within two days. An SAI official cited a technical issue at the bank and said the transfer was being processed.

Cousins also guided 18-year-old Prithika Pradeep to her first World Cup bronze at the Madrid stage. He was a former world No. 1 and won World Archery Championship titles in 1999 and 2003. After the Asian Games, he said the team had focused on arriving prepared and executing its process rather than predicting its medal tally.

Cousins replaced Sergio Pagni in May. Under Pagni, India won all five archery gold medals at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. The federation is also in talks with South Korean coach Park Chae-soon to lead India’s recurve programme ahead of Los Angeles 2028. He is expected to join by December.