Archery, Olympics 2024: Confidence key as Deepika Kumari and Co gear up for tough Paris test

Dola Banerjee remembers the events she got to compete in, as she prepared for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Those tune-up events were few and far between, as she became the first Indian woman to qualify for the individual women’s recurve archery event at the Games.

Now, two decades later, as Deepika Kumari leads the Indian archery contingent in Paris at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the six-member team has been a constant presence at international tournaments and have had sufficient competitive experience, including the Asian Games in September 2023.

This, to Banerjee, is the biggest difference that she has noticed since she retired from the sport in 2015.

“At that time, when we had pain, we just had to shoot through it,” said Banerjee in an interaction with Scroll. “But now the players are exposed to so many international events and have lots of support staff.”

Acknowledging the improvement that has been made in the sport since her playing days, Banerjee was also on hand to witness the dominance of Indian compound archers at the delayed Asian Games last year, as the deputy Chef de Mission.

With India winning gold in all five compound events along with a bronze, the recurve team’s efforts – a silver medal in the men’s team event and a bronze in the women’s team event –...

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