08/04/2018
India at Tokyo 2020 & beyond - Archery & Shooting
To excel at Olympics, India need to start implementing Plans so our Athletes improve at a much faster pace than the outside world in order to overcome the vicious cycle of medals in single digits as we are stuck for last 3 Olympics in spite of steady improvement in Coaching, infrastructure and encouragement by Govt and Corporates for last one decade or so. When we look around, we see a large no. of Indian Sportspersons performing well at Asian & Commonwealth level but missing the mark at Olympics. What it means is that many of our Athletes have graduated to Top 5 to Top 10 in the World in various Sports but have not been able to breach Top 3 slots on consistent basis.
Today, I would be focusing on Marksmanship Sports of Archery & Shooting. Both the Sports require extreme Focus and attention. Any minor distractions and subsequent change in breathing patterns may lead to disastrous results whereas ability to withstand Pressure and controlling anger during adverse circumstances can lead to desired performances and improved shot at medals.
Archery is one of the sports India has always flattered to deceive. We have had some great Archers in the past but have never won medals at Olympics level though we have had success at Commonwealth and Asian Games level. A curious case in point is Deepika Kumari, who is a Child prodigy, a precocious talent and a former World no. 1 who has underperformed in last two Olympics. Indian Archers have often cited high winds as the reason for underperformance. They ought to train under difficult weather conditions including strong winds while preparing for competitions. However, whatever the weather conditions, they remain same for all Archers. It’s a lame excuse and shows more of a mindset problem than the adverse conditions. Let me make a distinction. Every World No. 1 does not necessarily win Olympics medals but a high level of consistency in performance is expected. One may perform really well and still end up at No. 4 or No. 5 in Olympics but what is missing in Deepika Kumari’s armour is a consistency of good performances over a prolonged period.
It is my firm belief that it’s a matter of one Olympic medal in Archery and Indian Archers would begin to perform better at Olympics level too as they lack the self belief at present and would win more medals. Traditionally, we have been strong in Archery from ancient times but have still not broken into top league in today’s scenario due to outdated training methods and not according due respect to Archery as a Sport in the modern Indian society. One Silver medal by Col. Rathore in 2004 Athens Olympics and a Gold medal by Abhinav Bindra in 2008 Beijing Olympics have spurred a generation of Top class Shooters in India and we now have a no. of World Class Shooters today. Their tribe is likely to further grow in the foreseeable future. Deepika Kumari has to take the onus to do it for Archery in India.
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