India is hoping for its first Olympic medal in archery. The Indian archers are expected to end their medal drought by winning their first medal at the Paris Olympics. Therefore, the Indian archers will have a big challenge to win a medal in the Paris Olympics. The multinational tournament is scheduled to start on July 26th.
12 days are left for the start of the major event. Like other Indian athletes, the archers also gear up for it. India has selected a team of six archers, including men and women, for the Paris Games. This time, Indian archers have been given a special mantra of mutual bonding to end the Olympic medal drought.
They not only eat together but also travel together. Any kind of negative talk is strictly prohibited. Not only this, before leaving for France, they will prepare in Pune for 10 days in the same manner as archery in the Paris Olympics. India participated in archery for the first time back in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. However, they have yet to win a medal in sport so far.
In the 1992 Olympics, Limba Ram came very close to a medal but missed out on bronze. Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been sending archers 24 times for overseas competitions and preparation. Around 10.74 crores have been spent on the sport. Except this, 41 national camps have been organized for 217 days at a cost of Rs.6.5 crores.
Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai strong contenders in Olympics
Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai are the most experienced archers in the Indian archery force. This will be their fourth Olympics. The former has been participating in the Games continuously since the 2012 London Olympics. Tarundeep made his debut at the 2004 Athens Olympics and later participated in 2012 and Tokyo 2020.
Along with the experienced campaigners Praveen Jadhav made his debut in Tokyo 2020 and will also be there this time. Dheeraj Bommadevara, who secured a quota in the men’s group, and Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat, who secured a quota in the women’s group, will make their Olympic debuts.
The 30-year-old has impressed for nearly a decade, consistently winning medals in prestigious events such as the World Championship, World Cup, Asian Championship, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games. Despite her achievements, she has yet to secure an Olympic medal.
In the Tokyo Olympics, Deepika entered as the top-ranked archer globally and represented India as the sole female archer. Competing in both the women’s individual recurve and mixed team events alongside Praveen Jadhav, Deepika showed improvement compared to her previous Olympic performances.
She advanced to the quarterfinals in the women’s event. Marking her best Olympic performance to date. However, her journey ended at this stage. Similarly, in the mixed-team competition, she was unable to progress beyond the quarterfinals.
