Paris: One of the uncrackable codes for the Indian archery contingent is the Olympic Games. For all their rich success at World Cups, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, the recurve archers have been an utter flop at the showpiece event. They hoped to solve the puzzle in Paris but in the two attempts so far, they’ve entangled themselves into a deeper mess.
First the women’s team flopped 6-0 against rank outsiders Netherlands in their quarterfinal at Invalides on Sunday that saw a lot of scorn being heaped on veteran Deepika Kumari. On Monday, the men’s team, touted to have a better chance of running deep in the tournament following their recent win over powerhouse South Korea in a World Cup match, bungled big time against a youthful Turkey, losing 6-2.
The Indians had put in a lot of sweat and blood over the last three years in a bid to just correct the multiple disappointments at the Olympics. Since their debut at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the archers have never crossed the quarterfinal hurdle and lot of effort has gone since the Tokyo Games so that they could write a different script in Paris.
Apart from replicating the exact same stage of Paris at their High Performance Centre in Sonepat to training in the French capital well ahead of the competitions, they did everything right in terms of preparations. But sadly, the pressure of Olympics once caught the better of them in team events with both putting up shocking displays.
In the men’s event on Monday, a lot hinged on fast-rising Dhiraj Bommadevara and the experienced Tarundeep Rai. But the duo couldn’t step up to the big stage and with both of them bungling, Pravin Jadhav also caved in.
It, however, is not all over for the archers. They still have a chance to snap decades of disappointment when they take aim in the men’s and women’s individual events as well the mixed team event. But how they lift up their morale following the shocking displays in the team events remains to be seen.
Published 29 July 2024, 14:33 IST