Uncouth electronic media leaves Indian archer Deepika Kumari in tears

Deepika Kumari at 2012 London Olympics. (Getty Images)

The Indian women’s recurve team of Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi and Rimil Buriuly that won gold at the recently concluded Archery World Cup, held at Worclaw, Poland returned home in the wee hours of Tuesday, not to a grand welcome but a rude shock.

The triumphant Indian team returned home at Indira Gandhi Airport, Delhi, but were left disappointed when no official from the Archery Association of India (AAI) turned up to receive them.

Things went from bad to worse soon after, as under intense electronic media pressure for exclusive interviews and sound bytes, ace archer Deepika burst into tears.

Even after requesting to be left alone, media personnel continued to pester the jetlagged trio for exclusive one-on-one interviews; so much so that one reporter accused them of being arrogant for declining to talk to talk to the media present.

Deepika’s teammate Bombayla told the Times of India: “We were very tired after a long journey and had a flight to catch. The electronic media would just not let us breathe. Deepika got so harassed that she got worked up and was in tears.”

The team later paid a visit to AAI President V K Malhotra’s residence before heading out for a national camp at Aurangabad. The association might felicitate the archers after next month’s World Championship in Antalya, Turkey.