The Hindu : Hitherto neglected stars in spotlight

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 25, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Hitherto neglected stars in spotlight

By Our Special Correspondent

The members of the Indian archery team that participated in the World Championship in New York snapped on its return to New Delhi on Thursday. From right: Satyadev Prasad, Ved Kumar Acharya, Limba Ram, Tarundeep Rai, Sanjeeva Singh (coach), Reena Kumari, Chekrovolu Swuro, Dola Banerjee and Bhagyabati Chanu.

NEW DELHI JULY 24. This July has turned out to be the month of felicitations. After Sania Mirza, the junior spikers and the wrestlers, it was the turn of the archers to hog the media's attention.

Having ensured team berths for next year's Olympic Games in Athens by virtue of their splendid show in the World championship in New York, the otherwise much-neglected archers were the cynosure of all eyes.

As reported earlier, the men's team men made the semifinals and eventually finished fourth while the women lost in the quarterfinals. Since a team comprises three archers each, India has gained six berths in the individual events, as well.

The celebratory mood at the function organised by the Archery Association of India was understandable since no archer made it to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

Sanjeeva Singh, the articulate coach of the team, was the one who put things in perspective for the enthusiastic mediapersons. Dola Banerjee, who made sure of the country's first-ever individual berth in the women's section of Olympic archery by reaching the pre-quarterfinals in New York, was the most sought after archer during the team's brief stopover in the Capital.

After the Archery Association of India (AAI) president, Vijay Kumar Malhotra announced a reward of Rs. one lakh to each team, Sanjeeva reflected on India's unprecedented show in the World Championship.

"India never really had it this good before. For the first time, our archers shot with the kind of confidence I've not seen before. In fact, we beat traditionally strong nations France and Ukraine, and that too, by scoring heavily," said Sanjeeva.

On the semifinal against the mighty South Koreans, Sanjeeva said, "the boys were all charged up and shot very well. We led 84-82 after the first `end' (where three archers shoot three arrows each for a maximum of 90 points) and again 166-162 after the second".

"Anticipating an upset, those present in the arena started backing our team. However, just when we had to stick to some percentage shooting to stay ahead of the Koreans in the third and final end, the boys became a bit nervous. Two of our arrows earned us only seven points each and we allowed the Koreans to take it away. Those two `7s' surely cost us a place in the final and a sure-shot silver medal," lamented Sanjeeva.

"We still need to work more on the psychological aspect of the sport which in turn will help us handle certain situations better," the coach pointed out.

Overall, consistent high scores of the Indians was the brightest aspect. Unlike in the past, the women archers also shot incredible scores.

For instance, Reena Kumari, Dola Banerjee and Chekrovolu Swuro returned scores of 1318, 1311 and 1309, in that order, to qualify for the Elimination Olympic Round. This was also the first time that three Indian women had scored over 1300 (out of a maximum of 1440). In addition, Bhagyabati Chanu shot 1280 and finished 62nd among the 64 qualifiers.

Satyadev Prasad (1317), Ved Kumar (1294) and Tarundeep Rai (1288) made it from the men's section. However, Limba Ram, the country's best known archer with three Olympic appearances against his name, failed to come to terms with his new equipment and shot 1243.

India also ended the team qualification round by finishing fifth in the women's section and 13th in the men's.

Individually, Dola Banerjee became the first Indian woman to meet the qualification criteria by beating Anna Mozhar of Canada 149-143 in the first round.

"I was too excited at making the qualification berth and did not sleep well that night," confessed Dola. "I was obviously lucky to win despite shooting a low 149 while Reena and Chekrovolu had shot 151 and still lost. All along, I had dreamt of winning a qualifying slot for the country. Once I realised my dream, I had to concentrate much harder for the next day's team event. It was important that our team qualified so that our country had not just one, but three individual slots in Athens. I am so happy that we made it to the quarterfinals and qualified".

Looking ahead, Dola said, "what we need is more arrows while we practise. Now we have only limited arrows. I shoot for more than seven hours a day and at this rate, one set of 12 arrows do not last even three months. We do not replace the arrows (which cost a whopping Rs. 18,000 for a set of 12) until they become completely useless. The wear-and-tear of the arrows results in uneven balance of the arrows, which brings down our scores in practice. I am fortunate to get support from Tata, my employers, but not everyone is as lucky."

Among the men, Satyadev Prasad was the only one to get past the first round. While he made it to the pre-quarterfinals, Tarundeep Rai was assured almost certain of being among the 19 qualifiers as `best losers' since he had shot a high 154 while losing to his Japanese rival.

Tarundeep, the 19-year-old from Sikkim, was indeed the `find' of the championship since he had shot exceedingly well in his first international competition.

At this stage, Dola, Prasad and Rai had given the country individual berths for Athens before India's progress in the team championships doubled the number.

As per rules, India can field any three archers in each section in Athens. In other words, Prasad, Rai, Ved Kumar, Dola, Chekrovolu and Reena will have to maintain their form and fitness for the next one year to make sure of a place in the Indian Olympic contingent.

For others, including Limba Ram and Chanu, there is still some hope of making the Indian squad provided they prove themselves better than their teammates over the next 12 months.

In Olympics, the team events comprise on eight nations in each section. In individual competitions, 64 archers in each gender form the field. Out of these slots, three each are claimed by the eight qualifying nations.

These 24 archers are joined by 19 `best losers' based on their individual rankings in the World championship. Thereafter, three top finishers from each of the five Continental Qualification Tournaments and three host entries complete the field in each section.

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