Paris Olympics 2024: Will Deepika Kumari Bag Maiden Archery Medal For India?

All eyes are on star archer Deepika Kumari as India aims for its maiden Olympic archery medal at Paris. India have sent a six-member archery contingent to Paris Olympics 2024 with the women's archery team sealing a top-four spot to earn a direct entry into the quarter-finals.

Ranchi: Awarded the Arjuna Award in 2012 and the Padma Shri in 2016, daughter of Jharkhand, Deepika Kumari has time and again made the nation and her state proud of her hard work, resilience and sportsman spirit in the field of archery. With her unbeatable skillset, she earned a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the women's individual recurve event.

14 years down the line, as the fire in her burns strong, sports enthusiasts wait anxiously for her to bag the maiden Olympics archery medal for the nation as India have never won a medal in this category. India have sent a six-member archery contingent to Paris Olympics 2024 with Kumari being the senior most among them.

Kumari was born in an extremely small village named Ratu Chatti to father Shivnarayan Prajapati and mother Geeta Devi. Hailing from a typical Indian middle-class family with an auto-driver father and a nurse mum, it was indeed unusual to see Kumari taking a keen interest in archery since childhood.

Observing the unique knack, her mother enrolled her at Jharkhand’s reputed training centre located in Kharsawan, the Seraikela-Kharsawan District Archery Association (SKDAA). Arjun Munda, a former Jharkhand Chief Minister, had laid the foundation stone of this institute as Jharkhand welfare minister in 2005. Since then, there was no looking back for the little shooting mistress!

Accolades:At the mere age of 15, she bagged the 11th Youth World Archery Championship, which took place in Ogden, Utah, in 2009. Alongside Dola Banerjee and Bombayala Devi, she also took home a gold medal in the women's team recurve event at the same championship.

She won a World Championship silver medal in 2011 and then again in 2015. She won three World Cup silver medals in 2011, 2012 and 2013. She has won two Commonwealth Games gold medals in the individual and team recurve event and also won an Asian Games bronze medal in 2010.

At the Continental Qualification Tournament, which was conducted in November 2019 in Bangkok alongside the 21st Asian Archery Championships, Kumari secured an Olympic quota. In one of her other prominent achievements, a biographical documentary titled called 'Ladies First' was made by Uraaz Bahl and his wife Shaana Levy-Bahl and released in 2017.

Fingers Crossed For Deepika:Brother Deepak, her greatest confidante is optimistic about his sister bringing home a medal from the Olympics this time. "Didi has gone to Paris promising to bring a medal," he said with a smile on his face.

In a special conversation with ETV Bharat at his ancestral home in Jharkhand, Deepak appealed to the countrymen to pray hard for his sister. "Please pray for her success so that India wins a medal in Archery at the Olympics. Our entire village, cousins and friends are praying because they ardently want India to shine at the Paris Olympics 2024," he added.

India's Performance In Archery At Paris Olympics 2024:Spearheaded by Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat, India's archery teams performed decently in the qualifications, paving way for both the men's and women's teams to directly qualify for the quarterfinals on Thursday, July 25.

It is to be noted that the women's archery team sealed a top-four spot to earn a direct entry into the quarter-finals with the 26-year-old Ankita leading the Indian women with 666 points, trailed by Bhajan Kaur (22nd, 559 points) and Deepika Kumari (23rd, 658 points).

Juggling her career and the role of a mother, Kumari is busy with her last minute preparations in Paris along with her 19-month-old daughter Vedika.