India settle for three golds, performance below-par
Home pressure and huge expectation to make it 'big' did the Indian archers in as they settled for three gold, one silver and four bronze medals atthe Commonwealth Games.
Home pressure and huge expectation to make it 'big' did the Indian archers in as they settled for three gold, one silver and four bronze medals at
the Commonwealth Games.
Amid the disappointment, 17-year-old Deepika Kumari emerged as the "future" of Indian archery with the prized scalp of Olympic bronze-medalist Alison Williamson en route to her double-gold medal effort.
Having trained for the Games for two years in SAI Kolkata, Indians had aimed for six gold medals out of the eight -- four each in recurve and compound sections -- on the platter.
The biggest disappointment came when the reigning World Cup (State 4) champions men's recurve team fell way short of expectation to return with a bronze.
The failure meant the top-ranked recurve archers fell one gold medal short.
India hoped for two gold in compound team gold which appeared a little unrealistic as the men returned with silver, while women claimed the bronze in an unprecedented success.
In individual recurve section, India hoped for a clean sweep in both the men's and women's sections. But Tarundeep Rai and Bombayla Devi Laishram failed to advance into quarters, leaving them in hope for a gold-silver finish in both the men's and women's sections. However, that also did not materialise.
In the men's section, India's top archer Jayanta Talukdar fell in the semis to settle for a bronze while most experienced woman archer Dola Banerjee too went down in last-four to claim a consolation third place.
Dola's younger brother, Rahul, made up for the heartbreak clinching the individual gold, while Deepika reigned supreme in her event.
India's 'baby' archer Deepika made a giant leap to stardom thrashing Athens Olympic bronze medallist Wiliamson for the gold.
Daughter of an autorickshaw driver, the Ranchi girl earlier helped India team win the recurve gold that meant she had the most memorable meet with two top finishes.