‘Indian women have a realistic chance of winning medal at Rio’
NEW DELHI: Dola Banerjee has had a career of more than two decades. Over the years she has seen the Indian archery go through an enormous amount of change. But even then a lot remains to be done. The only medal missing from her cabinet is the Olympics. Looking back, she feels, to win an Olympic medal, quite a few things have to work simultaneously. And of course there is a certain amount of luck involved. Excerpts:
ON INDIA’S CHANCES
The women’s team has a very good chance of winning a medal. I would say about 80-90%. But then they will have to be at the top of their game on that day. It is not easy because the team event is scheduled for the first two days of the main round. Once the ranking round is over on August 5, the women’s team event happens after a gap of one day and the entire elimination happens in one day itself.
ONE-DAY COMPETITION
There are two ways of looking at it. If I am shooting well, I don’t want the event to carry on to the next day. There is a rhythm. A new day means I will have to get set afresh, get used to the conditions afresh, the overnight sleep is a huge factor. You don’t get up feeling the same way every day. On the flip side, if you are not shooting well, it is difficult to make a comeback.
ON DEEPIKA
Deepika is a lot more matured now. To me it is her best chance. She was in great form last time in London but a viral infection messed up our chances. Also, London was her first Olympics. It is too big an event not to get overawed by if you are a first timer. I think she will be able to use her London experience and put up a great show in Rio.
ON PREPARATIONS
Going one month early will help the team settle down. They will get used to the time difference. The food and all are not an issue any more. The archers travel a lot these days and they are used to having food that is not necessarily Indian. The Rio weather, unlike London will suit them better.
SECRET TO A MEDAL
To win a medal, a lot of things have to come good together. All three in the team will have to shoot well together. The current set system of points gives you an opportunity to comeback but winning the second set is crucial. If the team has lost the first set, the second set win helps it come back. If the team has won the first set, the second set win takes it to a great position.
ON ATANU DAS’ CHANCES
He has done really well this year. At the Antalya leg of the World Cup, he missed the bronze by a whisker against world No 1 Kim Woojin of South Korea. What came to the fore was his character. He was leading halfway two sets up when the Korean came back to force the match to a tiebreaker. The shooting was exceptional. Both shot a flurry of 10s. In the tie-breaker too, both had shot 10s. The referees took quite some time to decide which arrow was closer to the centre and eventually awarded the match to the Korean. The match showed, he doesn’t care who he is up against and that’s a great attitude to have.
Going one month early will help the team settle down. The food and all are not an issue any more. The archers travel a lot these days and they are used to having food that is not necessarily Indian
DOLA BANERJEE, former world champ believes acclimatisation won’t be a problem