When Deepika Kumari reappeared in the professional archery scene at the Archery Asia Cup 2024 stage-1 in Baghdad for the first time since becoming a mother, very few, including Deepika Kumari herself, had any expectations from the Jharkhand archer. However, the recurve archer walked away a champion. After making a successful comeback, Deepika is now eyeing a Paris Olympic berth.
Before taking a maternity leave in June 2022, 29-year-old Deepika last competed for India at the Paris Archery World Cup. She took home two gold medals from the Asia Cup. Before teaming up with her fellow countrywoman Simranjeet Kaur to win the women’s recurve team gold medal, she defeated her in the individual competition.
“I felt no pressure. I just wanted to shoot and get back to form, I was shooting after a long time and had no expectations, I just wanted to perform, nothing else,” Deepika told the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in an interview.
Thanks to Dhiraj Bommadevara’s silver medal in the men’s individual recurve at the Asian Continental Qualification Tournament in Bangkok last year, India has only been able to secure one quota for Paris 2024 in archery so far. Indian archers will compete in their final qualifier in June in Antalya, Turkey, for a final opportunity to earn additional direct quotas for the Summer Games. The world rankings will also be used to award team berths following the conclusion of the last qualifying event.
However, Deepika is desperate to land a Paris quota for herself, and promised to give her best.
“I don’t deny there’s pressure…but not from external expectations. It’s because of our expectations from ourselves,” Deepika said. “I, along with the entire team, will give our best.
“We don’t only need to perform in the last qualifying event but also the remaining three World Cups so that our ranking is good. We will leave no stone unturned to qualify for the Olympics and win a medal in Paris,” she declared.
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