Compound interest sparks medal hopes
Men’s team tipped to retain gold and the women are world No 1 now
NEW DELHI : After a long time, the Indian archery contingent will be going to a multi-discipline competition with its compound team looking a brighter medal prospect than recurve. No one gave the compound team much of a chance going into the last Asian Games at Incheon. But here they are, bound for Jakarta as the defending champions, ready to take on the continent as favourites for the gold.
At Incheon, the men’s compound team of Rajat Chauhan, Sandeep Kumar and Abhishek Verma emerged winners and the women’s trio of Trisha Deb, Purvasha Shende and Jyothi Surekha Vennam took bronze. Verma and Deb also won silver and bronze respectively in the individual events — the entire cache of medals coming as a surprise to most. Chauhan, Verma, Deb and Surekha are in the squad for Jakarta too and their experience and confidence will count. The funny thing is, even though compound archery at the Asian Games will not have individual events, the ministry supports these four archers under TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme). This effectively means that money meant for four is being spent on eight because there cannot be different opportunities for individuals in a team.
Verma, however, brushed it aside.
“We are going to the Games as favourites. There is pressure, but we are confident. Both the men’s and women’s teams are in top form. Now, it is the turn of the other teams to be scared of us,” said Verma.
“Our preparation has been solid. There were also quite a few important inputs from world and European champion Sergio Pagni from Italy during the 10-day camp in Sonepat. His inputs were mainly on the mental aspect, which is crucial in compound archery,” said Lokesh Chand, who has mentored Verma and would be travelling with the squad.
But archery’s strongest teams in recurve and compound are in Asia and retaining gold would be easier said than done. “The women’s compound team has the brightest chance. Both Trisha and Surekha are in good touch and this team has been shooting together for some time now. So, their rhythm is good,” said Rupesh Kar, the Bengal Archery Association secretary, who has monitored Trisha and the women’s team’s rise.
Kar’s confidence in the women’s team stems from the fact that it is currently world No 1 and has consistently won medals in the World Cups over the past three years. Led by Deb, who is the only woman in Indian archery to win an Asian Games individual medal, the team will face the strongest challenge from South Korea and Chinese Taipei.
Things, however, are not so rosy in recurve. Deepika Kumari, who won her first individual gold in the World Cup in Salt Lake City in June ending a six-year drought, is the only hope in the individual section. There is some experience in Laxmirani Majhi, but the veteran has hardly shone on the international stage.
The men’s recurve team is worse off with Atanu Das and Vishwas as the most experienced hands. Neither of them has won an individual international medal. The other two are youngsters.
“A messed up selection process has led us here,” said a top archer who did not wish to be named.
“In the past, we had two 72-arrow rounds of qualification and then the elimination rounds followed to decide on the fourmember squad. But this time, it was just the elimination rounds among eight archers. Also, the association now has these selection trials before every event and so there is no consistency in the team. Every time it’s a different set of boys. This type of selection doesn’t matter much in compound because the point system is different. But in recurve, that can have drastic consequences. This is exactly what you have here,” said the archer.
Top archers such as former world No 1 Jayanta Talukdar, Mangal Singh Champia and 2010 CWG individual gold winner Rahul Banerjee failed to qualify from the trials.
THE TEAM WILL FACE THE STRONGEST CHALLENGE FROM SOUTH KOREA AND CHINESE TAIPEI