Take a bow! Deepika Kumari secures Olympic quota with gold

Indian archery has been in the muddle for some time now with the Archery Association of India (AAI), the national go­verning body, in the doldrums.
Deepika Kumari competed as an independent athlete under the World Archery flag
Deepika Kumari competed as an independent athlete under the World Archery flag

CHENNAI: Indian archery has been in the muddle for some time now with the Archery Association of India (AAI), the national go­verning body, in the doldrums. With power-hungry officials unwilling to compromise, the AAI was handed a suspension by the World Archery (WA) just a few months ago. The WA diktat means the archers can’t represent the country in international competitions. While it has been a rough period, Thursday was a welcome boost for the sport. Competing without a flag due to the AAI’s ban, seasoned Deepika Kumari secured an Olympic quota at the Continental Qualification Tournament being held on the sidelines of the 21st Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok, on Thursday.

“We had been training at ASI Pune for three months. Everyone had worked hard for this. We are delighted with this outcome,” Somesh Chandra Roy, India coach, told this daily from Bangkok. Another Indian Ankita Bhakat was not far behind and settled for a silver medal after losing 0-6 in the decider.

Having entered the competition as No 1 ranked woman, Deepika lived up to her billing, beating Nur Afisa Abdul Halil of Malaysia 7-2, Zahra Nemati (Iran) 6-4 and local girl Narisara Khunhiranchaiyo 6-2 en route last four, thereby securing 2020 Tokyo Games ticket in the individual event. “We were a little bit nervous earlier in the day...it was really windy. I just concentrated on my breathing and told myself ‘just do it’. I’m feeling good right now,” Deepika said.

Later, Deepika stormed into the final with another one-sided 6-2 win over Nguyet Do Thi Anh of Vietnam.
Sixth seed Ankita was equally impressive. Even though she finished second-best, she was ineligible for a quota as there was only one on offer per nation. She beat Lam Shuk Ching Ada of Hong Kong 7-1, Nguyen Thi Phuong of Vietnam 6-0 and Anastassiya Bannova (Kazhakstan) 6-4 and Karma of Bhutan 6-2 to make it an all-Indian final.

Deepika has her eyes fixed on the team event. She’s hoping for a good show in 2020. “Now, we hope to qualify a team berth from the Berlin stage of the World Cup next year,” she added.  This is India’s second Olympic quota after the men’s recu­rve team comprising Tar­­u­n­d­eep Rai, Atanu Das and Pravin Jadhav had secured the first in the World Championships earlier this year. 

The Berlin stage of the 2020 World Cup is the last qualifying event in archery.  “The entire team is delighted, at least we won one quota. This tourname­nt has been a very good show for us,” she said.
Future might be uncertain for Indian archery but Deepika & Co have assured that there’s something to look forward to next summer in Tokyo particularly after their poor show in Rio Olympics.

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