New Delhi: Sanjeeva Singh, a former Olympian and the High Performance Director of the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Sonepat, is saying India’s quest for an archery medal at the Summer Games should end at Paris 2024. The archery competition at the Paris Olympics begins on July 25 and will continue till August 4. India will start in all five categories – men’s individual recurve, women’s individual recurve, men’s and women’s team and mixed team.
Six Indian archers – Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav, Tarundeep Rai, Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat – have won quota places for Paris 2024. After a training and acclimatization stint at Compiegne in France, the archers were among the first to enter the Paris Olympics Games Village.
Sanjeeva Singh, who participated in the individual and team events at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, feels India can win “at least three medals” given all the preparation the squad has undergone leading up to the Games. Like India’s Korean coach Baek Woong Ki, Singh will not be present in Paris.
The sports ministry has spent Rs 39.18 crores on archery in the Paris Olympics cycle (2021-2024). A total of 41 national camps and 24 foreign exposure trips were supported by the Indian government through its Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS).
“Compared to Tokyo, the preparation has been better planned with a lot of stress on scientific training, mental conditioning and more importantly, tweaking the nature of domestic tournaments in line with the Olympic format,” Singh has been quoted as saying.
“If we go by current form and the way the archers are performing, we can realistically look at three medals – men’s individual, men’s team and mixed team. Out of these three, one will definitely happen. A medal from the women’s competition will be a bonus but the team has to click together,” said Singh.
Singh explained that the men’s team is in a state of flow and that momentum needs to be carried forward. “The fact that the men’s team qualified late for Paris is probably a boon. It kept our archers on their toes and if they can maintain that focus and play bold, a podium finish is a huge possibility,” he said.
Indian men have had some great results this year. In April, the troika of Rai, Jadhav and Bommadevara won a historic World Cup gold in Shanghai by beating the reigning Olympic champions South Korea. That gold, which came after 14 years, was testimony to India’s rising confidence ahead of the final Olympic qualifier in June in Antalya, Turkey.
Singh stressed that Bommadevara is a medal prospect in men’s individual and if veteran Rai, who will be playing his fourth Olympics in Paris, doesn’t succumb to time pressure, the chances of a medal will go up in the team’s. Both the men’s and women’s team qualified for Paris 2024 on the basis of their current world rankings.
As per the current World Archery rankings, Indian men (238 points) are placed second behind South Korea (340). Chinese Taipei (226), People’s Republic of China (212) and Italy (207) complete the top five. In the women’s team world rankings, India are a distant eighth with 191 points. South Korea (296), China (271), France (255), Germany (254) and Mexico (232) are the top five nations. India are ranked ninth in the mixed team rankings with Korea, Japan and the USA among the top three.
“One of the biggest factors to win a medal at the Olympics is fighting spirit. The seniors have to lead from the front and it’s important to perform as a team. We have stressed a lot on process and not the target,” said Singh. Talking of seniors, both Deepika and Rai will be playing their fourth Olympics. Singh said they will have a big role to play in the team events but also need to perform at their best and handle the pressure of expectation well.
“Deepika has matured a lot and did well in two World Cups. Her role will be very important because she is anchoring the team at the end. She needs to finish boldly and confidently. A lot depends on her. She has to be in the right frame of mind because at times she becomes a little edgy. If Deepika remain calm, cool and let fly her arrows in one go, sky is the limit,” said Sanjeeva Singh.
Rai’s role, said Singh, is equally vital. “He is not short on experience but if he and Pravin (Jadhav) are confident and bold and if they don’t take too much time to shoot and follow what they have been doing at training, a medal is assured,” said Singh. The Paris Olympics archery competition starts at the Esplanade des Invalides, a garden of Paris’ most beautiful monuments, on July 25 with the rankings rounds in all five categories.
