“Rajib Basumatary is just one step short of international glory,” his friends and competitors say. The Services lad has been making gradual improvement under the tutelage of the South Korean coach Lim Chae Woong, recruited by Services.
The 23-year-old proved his growing potential by winning the men’s recurve 90m gold (FITA ranking round) in the Sahara-33 senior National archery championship, defeating the likes of Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai, at the Anna University ground here on Friday. Rajib scored 303 out of 360 to claim his first gold at a senior Nationals.
“It feels good to beat them (Rahul and Tarundeep). Actually, there was no pressure on me. It was all due to simple practice,” Rajib said. “Wind was a factor, but it was the same for everyone.”
Tarundeep (300) and Rahul (299) emerged second and third respectively.
Rimil Buruily of Railways cornered all the attention in the women’s recurve 70m and 60m events. The 21-year-old stood first in 60m pushing the favourite Deepika Kumari to second. However, in the 70m category, Deepika defeated Rimil for the first place.
Arbeen Singh of Uttarakhand with a score of 658 emerged triumphant in the men’s compound ranking round. Sandeep Kumar (657) finished second while Khyam Bdr Chhetri (655) came third.
Arbeen is a new-comer to the sport of archery. “This is my only second Nationals. It was difficult to handle the wind which was coming from all directions. After the first ‘end’, I got hold of the situation,” said Arbeen.
Manjudha Soy of Railways clinched the first place in the women’s compound ranking round.
The results: Recurve (FITA Ranking Round): Men: 90m: 1. Rajib Basumatary (SSCB) 303, 2. Tarundeep Rai (SSCB) 300, 3. Rahul Banerjee (RSPB) 299; 70m: 1. Mangal Singh Champia (RSPB) 329, 2. Prem Prasad Gurung (Meghalaya) 328, 3. Rahul Banerjee (RSPB) 321.
Women: 70m: 1. Deepika Kumari (SPSB) 328, 2. Rimil Buruily (RSPB) 313, 3. Dola Banerjee (RSPB) 308; 60m: 1. Rimil Buruily (RSPB) 326, 2. Deepika Kumari (SPSB) 325, 3. Dola Banerjee (RSPB) 323.
Compound: Men (ranking round): 50m: 1. Arbeen Singh (Uttarakhand) 658, 2. Sandeep Kumar (MP) 657, 3. Khyam Bdr Chhetri (HP) 655; 50m: 1. Manjudha Soy (RSPB) 634, 2. Parveena (Pun) 634, 3. V. Jyothi Surekha (AP) 630.
