The Indian women’s recurve archery team returned on Tuesday with gold and smiles from the Wroclaw World Cup in Poland.
Deepika Kumari, L. Bombayla Devi and Rimil Buruily upset Olympic champion and favourite Korea 219-215 for back-to-back World Cup titles.
“We fought both the opposition and the elements. Koreans are tough and very consistent. Also, the wind was very strong during the final and that made it more difficult, but we held our nerves,” Deepika said at a felicitation function organised by Archery Association of India president V.K. Malhotra.
Special win
The only other time India beat Korea was in the semifinals of the 2011 World championship, the score being 216-212. “We wanted to beat the Koreans because we have lost to them several times. That makes this win even more special,” said Rimil Buruily.
With both teams tied at 163 points going into the final round, India managed four perfect 10s out of six to clinch the title. All the archers acknowledged the contribution of the team’s Korean coach Lim Chae Woong, once hired by Tata Archery Academy.
“Woong understands us. We gain from his style and methods. He knows different techniques and that is reflecting in the results,” said Deepika, a qualifier to the World Cup finals on September 21 and 22 in Paris.
Talking of the title-clash, Woong said, “I told them to focus on individual shots and not on team score. That helped in scoring high.”
Woong's target
Assessing the Indians, Woong said, “They do very well in Asian, World Championship and World Cups. But in Olympics, they falter. It has to do mainly with weak psychology. My target is the Asian Games and the Olympics.”
However, the team felt the absence of a physiotherapist. “Hopefully, we will get one for the next competition,” said Deepika.
