Meet Priya Gurjar, the new compound sensation
Vinayak Padmadeo
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 17
Priya Gurjar cannot thank Rajat Chauhan enough. The 17-year-old from Jaipur was part of the Indian teams — women’s and mixed — that broke world records in the cadet category at the World Archery Youth Championships.
Priya won gold medals in the women’s and mixed team competitions along with an individual silver medal. She became the first Indian archer to win three medals in the U-18 cadet category. The women’s team comprising Priya, Parneet Kaur and Ridhu Varshini Senthilkumar broke the world record by 22 points. In the mixed team event, Priya and Kushal Dalal also set a new world record.
A protege of Arjuna Award winner Chauhan, Priya has been training with him since November 2017. “Rajat bhaiya has known my father for a long time,” Priya told The Tribune on Tuesday. “I refused when he asked me to join the sport. I was worried about school and tuition. I had no idea about archery as a sport. But then I gave it a try. I started enjoying it. Results started to come and now I am hooked. I train with Rajat bhaiya at the SMS Stadium now,” she added.
From asking her to first shoot with an Indian bow to her first compound bow and arrow, Chauhan has overseen Priya’s every step in the sport. “She started with my bow but that is not a special thing. We all have been helped when we started in this sport,” Chauhan said. “It is important to help her become the mainstay and early indications are that she has the skill and talent to do that,” the 2015 World Championships silver medallist said.
‘Missed individual record’
Priya also came close to breaking the individual record. She shot 696 to top the qualifying mark, only three points adrift of the world record. “It feels good to be part of two world records besides winning two gold medals so I am very proud,” Priya said. “I could have gone for the individual record as well. There will be a lot more tournaments where I can try to get it under my name,” she added.
India win big
The Indian archers won a total of 15 medals at the youth championships — eight gold, two silver and five bronze medals. “We had only won 26 medals in all previous editions of this championship and we won 15 in this championship only. This shows that the future of our sport is bright,” said Archery Association of India president Arjun Munda.
Still feel bad for Tokyo miss: Komalika
Under normal circumstances, Komalika Bari should have been beaming after becoming the second Indian archer after Deepika Kumari to win both the cadet and junior world titles in recurve archery. Yet, the 19-year-old is still rankled by the loss in June that denied her a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics. Komalika was part of the team, including Deepika and Ankita Bhagat, which lost to Colombia and failed to qualify for the Olympics. “I am happy with my performance at the youth championships but frankly speaking it till hurts that we failed to qualify,” Komalika said on Tuesday. “I am not implying that our performance in the youth event is insignificant. It is still big for many of us. But participating in the Olympics is a big deal,” she added.
