New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Army archer Pravin Jadhav and Jharkhand’s Deepika Kumari dominated the men’s and women’s categories at the five-day national selection trials in recurve event on Monday.
At the end of the trials, three men — Jadhav, Atanu Das, and Tarundeep Rai — and three women — Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Komolika Bari — were picked.
The teams will compete at the Paris World Cup, to be held from June 21-27, as per the world archery federation’s website. This tournament is also the last qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympic Games in July-August.
At the Paris World Cup, if the Indian women’s makes the cut the country will secure the team quota place for the Olympics, starting on July 23.
All six members will also compete at the Shanghai World Cup, which will be held from May 17-23.
In the men’s trial, Atanu Das maintained his form to finish second while Army’s seasoned archer, Tarundeep Rai, was third. Jadhav, Das, and Rai had earned men’s team quota place for Tokyo Olympic in the 2019 World Championships held at Den Bosch, The Netherlands. At the Rio Olympic, India had won an individual quota in the men’s group.
Jadhav, 24, will be playing his first ever Olympics. Rai is a two-time Olympian, having represented India in 2004 and 2012 and will be playing his third Olympics in Tokyo.
Das, who will be playing in his second Olympics after 2016, says he hopes to perform at his best in both the individual and team events in the Olympics.
“I have gone through a long process between the 2016 Olympics to now and have realised that the mental aspect of the game is very important,” he said.
Deepika got the individual quota when she finished first in the Asian Championship held in November 2019 in Bangkok. This will be Deepika’s third Olympics, after the 2012 and 2016 Games.
Ankita Bhakat and Komolika Bari, both of Jharkhand, finished second and third in the women’s group.
Archery competitions were cancelled last year due to the Covid pandemic.
The Indian team:
Men’s recurve: Pravin Jadhav, Atanu Das, and Tarundeep Rai
Women’s recurve: Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Komolika Bari
