There will be no Indian men’s archery team at the Rio Games after the trio lost to Malaysia in the final qualifying tournament at Antalya, Turkey, last week. Needing to finish in the top three, the recurve team of Jayanta Talukdar, Atanu Das and Mangal Singh Champia got past Turkey in the first round before losing to Malaysia in the quarter- finals and bowing out of contention. The match was tied 5-5 after regulation time and went to a shoot- off. The Malaysian trio of Khairul Anuar Mohamad, Haziq Kamaruddin and Muhammad Akmal Nor Hasrin managed a total of 28 ( 9+ 9+ 10) in the tie- breaker. The Indians could only manage 27 ( 10+ 9+ 8) with Talukdar coming up with the lowest score which proved decisive. India lost 3- 5 to Brazil earlier, but that was in the first round of the Archery World Cup - Stage III, the sidelines of which the Olympic qualification event was being staged concurrently.
The Indian women’s recurve team of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Laxmirani Majhi had secured a spot for the Rio Olympics at the World Championships in Denmark last year, while Champia has also won an individual berth for the country.
The Archery Association of India will now hold selection trials in Bengaluru on June 25 to finalise the four contestants who will represent the country in Rio. The Indian men’s trio was the top seeds owing to their performance in the qualifying round. They did just enough to beat Turkey but were piped by the Malaysians. The troika of Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai had managed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics at the last opportunity, but the Indians could not manage to book a spot this time round.
The federation is understandably miffed at the failure of the team to book an Olympic spot. “It was such a great opportunity and could not point to any mitigating circumstances,” a senior AAI official said. “We began preparing for the Olympics right after the London Games. We had trials for the last six months, sent them for an Olympic test event in Rio, and also had a 15-day, six- team invitational tournament in Antalya so that they could acclimatise.
They were even sent one week early for this tournament. There was also a mental trainer at their disposal. The association, sports ministry and Sports Authority of India backed them to the hilt. They had no reason to complain.” He said the pressure will now squarely be on the shoulders of the women’s team. “They will now feel that all hopes rest on them. They will have to deal with the situation,” the AAI office- bearer said.
As far as the individual men’s spot is concerned, trials will decide who among the three goes to Rio.
“Mangal brought the quota, but looking at the performance in Antalya, Atanu looks to be in the best form.” Looking at the long term, AAI will be focusing on a ‘catch ‘em young’ policy.
“We need to start preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics right now. There is a lot of talent coming up from the junior ranks,” the AAI official added.
