Archers begin quest to end long wait for Games medal

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, July 24

There will be a few amongst the archery team with butterflies in their stomach. Their quest to end India’s long wait for an elusive Olympics medal begins tomorrow with the ranking rounds at the Esplanade des Invalides. In the last three Games, India’s archers have exited at the quarterfinal stage or before.

For some, the scars can last a lifetime. L Bombayla Devi is still haunted by her miss in London when she failed to hit the target. Taunts like “that arrow is still flying somewhere over London” remind her of that harrowing miss.

“You feel bad. It is not as if I missed that arrow intentionally. Till today, I do not have an answer as to how I did not hit the target that day,” Bombayla said.

Bombayla, though, is hopeful that the current team has the tools to end India’s wait. “It can happen this time, why not? Speaking about the women’s team, Deepika (Kumari) is very experienced and both Ankita (Bhagat) and Bhajan (Kaur) have done well in world tournaments, so I am hopeful,” she said.

Only Deepika and Tarundeep Rai carry the luggage of past exits, which could work in India’s favour. However, securing a top-10 ranking is a must, otherwise they may run into big teams, including South Korea, China and even Chinese Taipei, in the earlier rounds.

Rahul Banerjee, who took part in the London competition, said that the key is to do well in the ranking rounds. “We have to do well in the ranking rounds. A good seeding means avoiding the big teams early. Once they do that they have the skills to take it to the knockout rounds,” Banerjee said.

“Dhiraj Bommadevara and Tarun have been shooting well and their average scores generally were 675 or above throughout the year. So I am optimistic. But yes there will be pressure. Once you start getting closer it will play on the mind, so we have to deal with that. If we do that, we will win something. Tarundeep and Deepika will have to take the lead here,” he added.

This is the first time after London 2012 that India is able to field a full team in both the men’s and women’s categories.

Archery

Men

Dhiraj Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai, Pravin Jadhav

Individual ranking round: July 25

Elimination rounds: July 30-August 1

Gold medal match: August 4

Team gold medal match: July 29

Women

Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur

Individual ranking round: July 25

Elimination rounds: July 30-August 1

Gold medal match: August 3

Team gold medal match: July 28

Mixed team gold medal match: August 2