Indian archery coach Purnima Mahato confident of qualifying for Tokyo Olympics 2020

Indian women recurve archers Deepika Kumari, Komalika Bari and Ankita Bhaka, under the guidance of coach Purnima Mahato, will be competing in the Olympic qualifiers in Paris on Sunday 20 June. They will be hoping to seal a berth for Tokyo.

Vying for three spots, the Indian archers will be challenged by 27 teams, including Mexico, Georgia, Italy, Spain and Denmark. Apart from them, the Indian archers will also have to deal with an invisible challenge – the wind. But they have a master strategist amongst them in coach Purnima Mahato.

The Indian archers, particularly Deepika Kumari, had an unfavorable past with the wind. At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Deepika Kumari had to hit the bullseye to progress to the semifinals but she could only manage eight, with the wind playing spoilsport. The wind makes it difficult for them to handle their equipment. Prior to Rio, Deepika Kumari was undone by the wind at the London Olympics as well.

Read: Archery World Cup Stage 3: When and where to watch, events, Indian participants list

Although the conditions are similar for everyone, the Indian archers have been caught on the wrong foot on more than one occasion. However, they are not keen to commit any errors this time and have been on the money in their practice sessions, tackling all adversities with ease.

ARTICLE. Are India and Mexico the favourites for the last @Tokyo2020 @Olympics team quotas in Paris? https://t.co/uansddWEMB #ArcheryatTokyo pic.twitter.com/pliOR9CIoQ

— World Archery (@worldarchery) June 18, 2021

Have assesed the conditions well: Purnima Mahato

Indian coach Purnima Mahato is confident of emerging with flying colors. After the first official practice session on Friday, Purnima Mahato said the team is confident of pulling off a great performance on Sunday. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, she said:

“We had a two-hour official practice window on Friday evening. We hit the right areas and I am confident after seeing how we have performed during our practice session."

Cloud cover on Friday gave the Indian archers a sneak peek into how conditions could be come Sunday. However, it is not a deterrent, according to coach Purnima Mahato. She also said the team has strategized by keeping the conditions in mind.

“The conditions are extremely windy. There is a lot of cloud cover also. It is okay, it is beyond our control. It is the same for everyone and there is nothing to complain about. We have trained well to understand the conditions too and we will give it our best,” Purnima Mahato added.

There are many ways to combat the wind. The archers can try different techniques like trying to judge the wind, timing their shot to perfection, using arrows with a lesser diameter and adjusting of bows.

Purnima Mahato knows that the margin of error is minimal.

“There are around 30 countries (27 to be precise) vying for a spot in the Olympics. Everyone, including us, has to be on the money. We have had some good results in the past. We did well in the World Cup Stage 1 and that will put us in good stead,” Purnima Mahato opined.

The Indian archers have a practice session late on Saturday to sharpen their skills before the big challenge on Sunday. Purnima Mahato will be on the lookout to perfectly assess the preparation before the big day.

“We have the men playing today (on Saturday). It will give us a fair idea of how the conditions are and how the weather is holding up. Upon seeing how they score we can plan on how to approach the conditions. We will have a practice session today (Saturday), too, and fine-tune ahead of the big day tomorrow (Sunday),” Purnima Mahato said.

For now, the squad is completely focused on qualifying and as Purnima Mahato puts it, Tokyo is for later, Paris is for today. She said:

“We are confident of doing our best. I know it all depends on the groups, our games and ranking, but we are here to do our best. As of now, our complete focus is on qualifying. We know this is our first goal and then we will think about and strategize about Tokyo later."