A Tale of Bow and Arrow
Archery as a sport is as lethal as it is exciting. To hit the coveted bulls’ eye is a dream come true just as there is no greater disappointment as missing it by a few centimeters. Archery was your meal ticket and means to win a battle back in those days. India as a country is known for its ancient heroes. Most of those ancient heroes were also very good archers. A quintessential war hero would be the one that graced one of the greatest epic stories of all time- Arjuna from Mahabharata. But Arjuna has long gone and along with it the heroic utility of the bow and arrow. Though Archery was mainly used for the purpose of hunting and combat, it has been transformed to a recreational exercise with the wake of the new dawn.
It is an up and coming sport that is a valid part of the Olympics. Had it not been for its induction in to the Olympics games by the Olympics committee, it would not have even attained the current status it holds. Though not a popular game, it is widely enjoyed by a large group of people. Archery in India is slowly gaining prominence and had an uplifting fate at the 2012 London Olympics. Even though the Indian women’s archery team missed out by a single point to Denmark in the pre quarterfinals, it still was an encouragement to the future competitors. Right now at the top most level we have Deepika Kumari who is currently ranked as the World Number two.
She got her first big break when she won the cadet World Championship title in November 2009. Deepika Kumari profile got better ever since she won two gold medals in the 2010 Commonwealth games. For her outstanding performances, she was honored with ‘the Outstanding Performance at CWG (Female) award' at Sahara Sports Awards 2010. Deepika won her first World Cup gold medal in May 2012, at Turkey.
Her shared nativity with Mahendra Singh Dhoni (they are both from Ranchi) had the Jharkand Government issue photographs of both sports stars, in local newspapers. Though she missed the elusive gold, she was able to take home a silver medal at the 2012 World Cup on 23rd September, at Hibiya Park in Tokyo. Following this she adjudged the ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ at the 'Spirit of Sporting Awards'. It is just a matter of time before she crosses more important milestones.
