''Baby'' archer guides recurve team to first Gold

Fri, Oct 08 10 08:37 PM

Tapan Mohanta New Delhi, Oct 8 (PTI) Daughter of an autorickshaw driver in Ranchi, ''baby'' Deepika Kumari took a giant leap when she guided the women''s recurve team to bag the first Commonwealth Games gold in archery. The 17-year-old shot 70, one point higher than double Olympian Dola Banerjee (69) and Bombayala Devi Laishram (68) as the trio pipped English opponents by one point for the top finish in a pressure-filled match. Women''s coach Poornima Mahato looks after Deepika as she is treated like a ''baby''. For instance, she is not allowed to use a mobile phone and shares a room in the Games Vilage with the team''s senior most member Dola. "But I am growing, I don''t need a mobile now, maybe I will get it after getting a job," Deepika told PTI, showing off her nails painted in the colours of the Indian Tri-colour. Currently world-ranked fifth, Deepika shot into limelight winning the Cadet Youth Championships in Kundu-Antalya, Turkey in October 2008 while recently she made the cut for the coveted World Finals in Edinburgh. "Playing in the World Finals was really huge for me. All the top archers were there. I could not get a podium finish but the experience is helping me. I am learning day by day," said Deepika. Studying in class 11th in Jamshedpur, Deepika targets making a cut for the London Olympics 2012. "Next year will be a huge for me. I hope to continue with this form and qualify for Olympics. That will be really a proud moment for my parents and coaches who are behind my success," she said. In-form Deepika is only one among the women''s team to have won an individual medal at the World Cup this year when she got a silver at the World Cup stage 4 in Shanghai recently. Eldest among three children, Deepika''s father Shiv Narayan Mahato drives an autorickshaw, while mother Geeta Mahato works as a nurse in Ranchi Government Hospital. "I got my first recurve bow when I made the academy. All my expenses of food and boarding was taken care of since then," Deepika, who got into the Tata Archery Academy in 2008, said. It was her cousin who noticed the talent in Deepika. "She was an archer and it was through her I got into archery. Then I trained at Saraikela before being picked by TAA," Deepika recalled. The teenage Deepika considers senior pro Dola as her archery inspiration. "I really look up to her. Dola didi always helps me out when I go wrong. I am really thankful to her," she says. Incidentally, both Dola and Deepika will play recurve individual quarterfinals in the Commonwealth Games archery competition on October 10.

Source: Published>