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Seeking redemption: Rio 2016 is Indian archery contingent's best chance for medal

Having crumbled under weight of expectations in 2012, Deepika Kumari will hope her mental strength complements her skills as she leads India's charge for historic medal once again

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Like in 2012, all eyes will be on Deepika Kumari once again as far as India’s archery hopes are concerned
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With tears in her eyes, 18-year-old Deepika Kumari was a picture of complete wreck as she walked out of The Lord’s arena after her disastrous show in the 2012 London Olympics. 

Having been the country's darling, this daughter of an auto driver crumbled under the weight of her own as well as the expectations of 1.25 billion people. And with that, India’s hopes of a maiden archery Olympic medal too evaporated. 

Such was Deepika's fall from grace that her world ranking spiralled from No. 1 to No. 19 in no time. To top it all, she was even dropped from the Indian squad for the World Cup the next year. 

Four years down the line, Deepika is still the star of Indian archery, and the biggest bet for an elusive medal from the sport at the Rio Olympics. There's no doubt that this a golden chance for the now 22-year-old Deepika to make amends for her dismal show at London. And, who better than her to know that “it’s all in the mind” when it comes to hitting the bulls’ eye at the most crucial of times.

Post 2012, Deepika realised that she will have to return to basics to iron out the root cause of her problems. There was a technical mistake in her anchor position alignment, and in came the 1992 Barcelona Olympic team gold medallist Juan Carlos Holgado to her rescue. The Spanish 48-year-old not only helped her technically, but also did his bit mentally, trying to soothe her nerves during utmost pressure situations. 

The Archery Association of India (AAI) too organised yoga sessions for all archers in order to strengthen their mental toughness. Add to that, the US-based mental trainer Lorenzo Beltrame also held sessions to prepare archers for gruelling challenges ahead. 

These collective efforts bore fruit, as Deepika delivered a team silver medal at the 2015 World Championships in Copenhagen. She followed it up with an individual silver at the Mexico World Cup final as well as a bronze in mixed team event at the Asian Championships in the same year. However, her biggest satisfaction was grabbing the much-coveted Olympic spot. 

Deepika started the 2016 season in great fashion too, equalling the world record tally of 686 out of 720 set by the reigning Olympic gold medallist Ki Bo Bae at the Shanghai World Cup qualifying stage.

Women’s team India’s best bet

Thus, India's best chance of an archery medal will be from the women recurve team of Deepika, Laxmi Rani Majhi and Laishram Bombayla Devi. 

Much like Deepika, Majhi also hails from a poor family, with her father being a coal mine worker. The 27-year-old was a student of a government school in Bagula on the West Bengal-Jharkhand border. It was national archery coach Dharmender Tiwary who scouted her and convinced her that the sport could end her hardships. 

Of the three, only 31-year-old Bombayla took up the sport because her mother, M Jamini Devi, was an archery coach herself. 

The trio qualified for Rio through a silver-medal performance at the World Championships in Copenhagen last year. Deepika and Bombayla would know the pressure associated with an Olympics from their London experience, and they will need to mentor Majhi for the same if they are to have a shot at a podium finish.

Floodlights a worry 

A major problem that any Indian archer could face in Rio is shooting under floodlights. The Rio Olympics will be the first major event in archery where matches will take place under lights. It will thus be imperative for our archers to adapt to the conditions quickly. And that’s why AAI decided to send the contingent to Brazil well in advance. 

Besides gaining from the experience of training under floodlights, the cool weather in Brazil has also helped the archers' training. Add to that, the AAI also made special arrangements for pure Indian cuisine for the archers during the stay there.

Ultimately, though, London taught the Indian archers that it’s not just about training hard, but also about holding nerves. It could well be the difference again between the winner and loser in Rio. 

Thus, if the Indian archers have learnt their lesson, and have a bit of luck on their side, the women’s recurve team could well rewrite Indian archery's history.

DID YOU KNOW?

* Indian archers have participated in every Olympics since 1988
* Yet, the country has never won a medal in the sport at the Olympics
* The women reached the quarterfinals in the team event in 2004 and 2008, which is their best performance till date
* No Indian has reached the quarterfinals in the individual event

INDIA'S ARCHERY CONTINGENT

Player    Event
Bombayla Devi    Women's individual
Deepika Kumari    Women's individual
Laxmirani Majhi    Women's individual    
Deepika Kumari
Bombayla Devi    Women's team
Laxmirani Majhi
Atanu Das    Men's individual

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