A quiver for gold

Navneet Singh checks out a hotspot of Indian sport from where medals look good

One Indian archer will be watched at Doha, very carefully: world No 1 Jayanta Tulukdar. The archer is himself confident of a podium finish. “I have been preparing for the event since the beginning of the year. From the World Series he has gained a major confidence boost. “My preparation has gone well so far. Hope to fetch a medal for the country,” he says, as he rounds up one of his training sessions.

The archery think-tank is confident of winning at least two medals in the team event. “Our archers are more consistent. The men’s team has the calibre to finish among the top two,” said national coach Dharminder Tiwari. He added that the women’s team could also figure in top three. The men’s team comprises Mangal Singh, Jayanta Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Vishwas.

Dola Banerjee, Chekrovolu Swuro, Reena Kumari, Punyaprabha make up the women’s team. At the continental games, archery competition is as tough as at the Olympics. Asian powerhouses China, Japan, South Korea and Chinese Tapie usually dominate the Asian Games, as they do at the Olympics.

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“We may face tough competition from the above countries, but some of the top countries don’t have depth in their ranks, which is beneficial for India,” said Tiwari.

The national camp was also supervised by South Korean expert Woon Baekmun, who was hired by the Mittal Trust for the big event.

The problem is that there are pressures in the Olympic Round that a Fita Round may dissipate. The top 32 take part, and there is little scope for error. “Elimination round (or Olympic round) is tougher than the Fita round,” says the coach. There are 12 arrows in each of the elimination rounds till the final where alternate chance is given to each of the top eight archer to hit the target.