Indian archers have a good medal chance at the Games but the key factor could be the Beijing weather, Sanjib Guha finds out
Indian archers have a good medal chance at the Games but the key factor could be the Beijing weather, Sanjib Guha finds out
Perhaps for the first time, India can hope for an Olympic medal in the archery, particularly because of the spate of superb performance in the last couple of years.
The chances seemed prominent after Dola Banerjee created history by bagging the gold medal in the women’s individual recurve competition at the archery World Cup finals in Dubai last November. But now, more than Dola it’s India’s No. 1 archer Mangal Singh Champia who is a medal hope. Champia is the only Indian participant in the men’s individual category as India failed to make the cut in the team event in Beijing.
Government and the Archery Association of India (AAI) have jointly decided to send both Champia and L Bombayla Devi — the two assured of Olympic berths — to Korea to get used to the conditions there. “I am going to Korea on June 5 for a month’s training…and this will help me get acquainted with the weather conditions there and if everything falls in place, I hope to win a medal in Beijing,” Champia told the DNA from Kolkata, where AAI is holding a camp.
“I am ready for the meet by now, but cold weather and wind factor will have to be taken in stride…Then it will be a different ball game,” Champia said.
Champia spearheaded the Indian challenge in the men’s recurve section. The three-member Indian team won the World Cup Archery that concluded in Antalya (Turkey) on May 30.
The Indian team, comprising Champia, Rahul Banerjee and Jayanta Talukdar got the better of Chinese Taipei 218-210 in the pre-summit round and then defeated Malaysia 218-215 for the gold medal. The women’s recurve team, consisting Dola, Reena Kumari and Bombayla Devi, lost in the first round to Japan at 191-193.
World Cup-winner Dola — who still have to go through the last round of trials scheduled to be held in Kolkata at June-end — too, is hopeful of a medal in the Chinese Capital. “I am happy with the way I am doing at the moment, but winning a medal depends mainly on the luck and wind factor,” Dola said.
Though the Indian men’s and women’s teams are confident of a good show, the AAI secretary Paresh Nath Mukherjee is putting his money on Champia rather than Dola or Bombayla. “Women’s team is not faring well at the moment compared to Champia, but let’s see if they can lift their performance a bit, they can also do it,” Mukherjee said.
But the World Cup win last year should serve Dola as a morale booster ahead of the August 8-24 Games.
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