Good haul at C'Wealth Games will help us at Asiad: Dola Banerjee

World champions South Korea and formidable China not part of the competition. Who do you expect to pose a big challenge?
China and South Korea are not in CWG and that is a little disappointing. But it doesn’t mean the competition will be less spirited. We are expecting a tough challenge from England, Malaysia and Canada. In fact, there are a couple of good archers in Bangladesh who can surprise a few.

Archery will be reintroduced after 1982 Brisbane edition. How do you fancy your chances on home ground?
Yes, everyone is excited about it. We are taking our chances and would like to make maximum use of home support.

You would like to compensate for Beijing disappointment...
Certainly! But I must tell you in the team event, where we lost to China, it wasn’t by a big margin. Moreover, the crowd was backing the local pair, which did us in. I had participated in Athens, but my team mates Pranitha Vardhineni and Bombayala Devi, who were not acquainted with the atmosphere in Olympics got very nervous.

What is your take on Deepika Kumari?
She is a very talented girl. In the last two years she has worked hard on her performance and emerged as a medal prospect in CWG. A silver medal in the Shanghai World Cup has definitely boosted her confidence level.

With top players pulling out do you think the games will lack glamour?
People apprehensive about this should come to Delhi and check out the reality. Things are getting better. Food, facilities and services have improved very much. I fail to understand why players are reluctant.

24 medals are for grabs. Your estimate…
My gut feeling says we should win at least four out of 12 gold medals, in both men and women events (recurve and compound). This is besides a couple of silver and bronze medals. We are banking more on recurve events. If we are able to perform well in CWG, we will get momentum for upcoming Asian Games where we will have to face the champions.

All archers practice together. Is that encouraging?
Having practiced together for almost a year, I guess we have built a very formidable team. There is a very competitive but friendly atmosphere in the team, which is good.

How do you rate Limba Ram as a coach?
I have played with him and now he is coach. We don’t have international coach and don’t need it because he is very caring person or I should say he is an inspirational figure. We are fortunate to have him because the way he handles the situation helps us a lot.