NEW DELHI: After almost 18 months without competitions, India’s Rakesh Kumar won his first-ever individual medal and that too a gold at the recently concluded seventh Fazza World Ranking tournament in Dubai. Now he has his sights set on the ultimate prize, a medal at the Paralympics.The compound archer only started the sport in 2017 and since then has claimed three international medals while also qualifying for Tokyo. The past year had been difficult for the para archer as he had not been able to practicve the requisite distance due to the lockdown and yet he clinched the gold.
Surprisingly the Jammu athlete revealed how much the lockdown influenced his performance in Dubai. “The lockdown was tough on the general public and athletes alike. I was only able to shoot from a small distance as most grounds remained shut but mentally, I worked on being content and trying my best in every situation. And for the first time my focus was not on the score or on the opponent, it was just about giving my best shot and being happy. It worked out fine in the end,” he told from his home in Katra. He will return to SAI Sonepat for the para-archery camp on Friday.
Prior to 2017, Rakesh had never heard of archery. It was because of coach Kuldeep Kumar Vedwan that he got into the game and it has turned his life around — financially as well as mentally. He suffered major spinal cord injury from a road mishap which bound him to a wheelchair and left him with limited mobility from the waist up. Before the accident, he was a plumber working in the various hotels in Katra while his father was a carpenter and mother a house-wife.
“It was a dark time and looking back, the worst part of the entire episode was the fact that I lost out on my youth. I was 25 back then and I should have been able to do things, help my parents, but instead my entire family was forced to look after me. I felt so useless I tried to take my life thrice. My coach and the sport helped me regain control and I’m glad I was able to turn things around.”