Paris Olympics: Veterans Rai, Deepika Kumari to anchor archery campaign

India's wait for an Olympics archery medal may eventually end in Paris, according to Sanjeeva Singh, a former Olympian and the high-performance director of the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Sonepat. The six-member Indian contingent of archers were among the first to enter the Games Village on Sunday, 21 July.

The six Indian archers in Paris are: Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav, Tarundeep Rai, Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat. The archery competition gets under way at the Esplanade des Invalides, a garden of Paris’ most beautiful monuments, on Thursday, a day before the opening ceremony and will continue till 4 August. India will start in all five categories – men’s individual recurve, women’s individual recurve, men’s and women’s team and mixed team.

Sanjeeva, who participated in the individual and team events at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, feels India can win “at least three medals” given all the preparation the squad has undergone leading up to the Games. Incidentally, both Singh and Korean coach Baek Woong Ki will not be present in Paris.  

The sports ministry has spent a whopping Rs 39.18 crores on archery in the Paris Olympics cycle, while a total of 41 national camps and 24 foreign exposure trips were supported by the Indian government through its Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS).

“Compared to Tokyo, the preparation has been better planned with a lot of stress on scientific training, mental conditioning and more importantly, tweaking the nature of domestic tournaments in line with the Olympic format,” Sanjeeva said.

“If we go by current form and the way the archers are performing, we can realistically look at three medals – men’s individual, men’s team and mixed team. Out of these three, one will definitely happen. A medal from the women’s competition will be a bonus but the team has to click together,” he added.

The men’s team, according to the Olympian, is in good nick and the momentum needs to be carried forward. “The fact that the men’s team qualified late for Paris is probably a boon. It kept our archers on their toes and if they can maintain that focus and play bold, a podium finish is a huge possibility,” he said.

Last April, the troika of Rai, Jadhav and Bommadevara won a historic World Cup gold in Shanghai by beating the reigning Olympic champions South Korea. That gold, which came after 14 years, was testimony to India’s rising confidence ahead of the final Olympic qualifier in June in Antalya, Turkey.

Singh stressed that Bommadevara is a medal prospect in men’s individual and if veteran Rai, who will be playing his fourth Olympics doesn’t succumb to time pressure, the chances of a medal will go up in the team’s. Both the men and women’s team qualified for Paris 2024 on the basis of their current world rankings.

As per the current World Archery rankings, Indian men (238 points) are placed second behind South Korea (340). Chinese Taipei (226), People’s Republic of China (212) and Italy (207) complete the top five.

In the women’s team world rankings, India are eighth with 191 points. South Korea (296), China (271), France (255), Germany (254) and Mexico (232) are the top five nations. India are ranked ninth in the mixed team rankings with Korea, Japan and the USA among the top three.

Incidentally, Deepika - who has staged a comeback after motherhood - will also be taking part in her fourth Games. ''Deepika has matured a lot and did well in two World Cups. Her role will be very important because she is anchoring the team at the end. She needs to finish boldly and confidently. A lot depends on her. She has to be in the right frame of mind because at times she becomes a little edgy. If Deepika remain calm, cool and let fly her arrows in one go, sky is the limit,”  Singh said.