From Naught to Everything: 8 Things about India's Ace Archer Deepika Kumari

BENGALURU: Though we have won 6 consecutive gold medals in hockey (which is by the way not our national sport), an English sport Cricket has more popularity in India. This sentence is just enough to draw a conclusion of the state in which the other sports are in India. Let’s turn some pages of our mythological books! Arjuna! Karna! Eklavya! Rama! All according to these books were born in India! All were exceptional archers (Dhanurdhar in Hindi). The reputation of these archers was far known! It is very surprising that though has been the land of archers from the ancient ages, little importance has been given to this form of Sports. This is where Deepika (not Deepika Padukone), a world-renowned Indian archer comes to picture.

Deepika Kumari looks poised to make India proud in the upcoming Rio Olympics 2016. Matching the World record of points, set by Ki Bo-Bae, Deepika now sits and on the top of the pile and hopes to deliver on the hopes of her fans to win National glory reports Sports desk, India.com. Read on to know more about this wonder girl.

A small town girl making it BIG!

Ranchi, the city of dreams, the moment I will ask who it is known for, the most prominent answer would be Dhoni! I know, but things are going to change, as this Indian archer also hails from this city. Growing up, Ranchi didn’t have the facilities to produce world class players in big sports, leave alone archers. But this didn’t affect this wonder girl to sharpen her precision of a needle.

Childhood was not so easy

Though Deepika didn’t face the problems other girls face in India where people tell them what to do and what not to, Finances were a big cause of worry. Her father, Shivnarayan Mahato was an auto-rickshaw driver and mom Geeta Mahato is a nurse in Ranchi Medical College and had to fight many financial battles to ensure that Deepika got the right kind of gear to compete.

Pehli Mulakaat (The first interaction)

Deepika had her first interaction with Archery in Arjun Archery Academy. She was just 11 when she joined the academy which was setup by then Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda. After joining the academy, she was on the rise and big things were waiting in store.

The Journey Begins

In 2006, Deepika received a stipend of Rs 500 after joining the Tata Academy. This was the rising point of her career as three years later, in 2009 a 15-year-old Deepika won the cadet World Championship title.

Deepika Kumar Rises

After winning the cadet World Championship title in 2009, there was no one stopping her. She won a Gold medal in Ogden and a Bronze medal in the recurve event. At a tender age, she was travelling around the world and creating ripples wherever she went

Merry home coming

After conquering the world, Deepika’s next endeavor was the Delhi Commonwealth games 2010 where she won with flying colors. Deepika won two gold medals which came at an individual level and the recurve event.

Ups and Downs

Good times end soon and so it did for the wonder girl. Though, she became the top ranked player in the world in 2012 for the recurve section but failed miserably in the London Olympics. Suddenly there were controversies raised by a senior official by commenting that the board was not doing enough to support Archery in the country. There was a change of coach and in mentality but nothing changed her love and dedication for archery.

Medals and Honors

Although gold always eluded Deepika, she was a regular in the final stages of World Championships. In the World Archery championships in 2015, she bagged a Silver medal and a Bronze medal in the Asian Games. The Indian government for her exceptional achievements in the field of archery honored her with the prestigious Padma Sri award in 2016.

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