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.