Archers Sandeep Kumar, Rajat Chauhan and Abhishek Verma script history by stunning favourites South Korea to bring home the gold medal in men's compound team event * Verma also wins individual silver * Women pocket two bronze
The atmosphere at the Gyeyang Asiad Archery Field was electric on Saturday. A majority of the spectators were whistling and cheering for the local trio of Yonghee Choi, Lihong Min and Youngho Yang. In one corner of the stadium were some Indian supporters, trying hard to encourage their team. "Come on Sandeep (Kumar), you can do it. Concentrate, concentrate," was their advice. Surprisingly enough, Kumar's partners in the men's compound team event, Rajat Chauhan and Abhishek Verma, did not utter a word. At stake was the gold medal.
Both Chauhan and Verma were in the 'zone', shooting perfect 10s with a few 9s in between. They were shooting like champions. This was their big chance to announce themselves at the big stage. But why were they not telling Kumar to push a little harder? He was mostly hitting 9s.
With their lead down to two points after two South Korean archers shot perfect 10s as compared to India's 9s, it all came down to the very last shot. A sub-9 effort from Kumar would spoil it all.
Soon, Kumar lifted his bow. A picture of calm, he whispered something before finally pulling the string towards his chin. It was a perfect 10. The Indians in the stands erupted in joy. Kumar was a hero. His junior teammates engulfed him before lifting him up.
Eight days after shooter Jitu Rai gave India its first gold medal at these Games, the archers ended the drought. They beat the hosts 227-225.
"I told my mother, who I knew would be glued to the television back home, to see my shot," Sandeep told dna a few minutes after his moment of glory.
But what did he say? "It's a constant connect between us. Whenever I find myself in a crisis, I talk to her telepathically. Today, I knew she was watching me. She must have read my lips," said the Haryana-born archer.
And what is it that he murmured? "Aaj nahin."
"Not today. I'm not going to let my team down today," said the naik subedar.
Kumar's had a 'tense' index finger — this is a common problem faced by archers the world over — since Friday's qualifying match.
"This had happened during the Asian Championships too. But I shot well. Even today, I made it a point not to shoot outside the circle (of 9s & 10s)," said the Army Sports Institute athlete.
Ask his teammates about what was going in their mind when Kumar was unable to shoot perfect 10s and they offer different takes.
"We're like a family of olden times. All three sons of that family used to hand their earnings to their parents. There was no disparity whatsoever. The highest-earning son was not accorded special status. The combined sum was used by everyone in the family. Our team event is just like this. If Kumar was not shooting well today, then we're there to compensate for his loss," said Chauhan, the juniormost member of the team.
Hailing from Jaipur, he is the only one without a job. "Had we advised Kumar at that point of time, we would have ruined the day. Any archer has his ups and downs. He should be left to do his own thing. Didn't you see the way he ended the campaign with a perfect shot?" Chauhan reasoned.
Verma still had his individual event to look forward to. When quizzed if he was excited about his first Asian Games gold, his answer was short and simple. "Wait for two hours. You will get another." He won the silver.
DID YOU KNOW?
Rajat Chauhan's mother sold her gold ornaments to buy an imported archery kit for her son from the USA
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