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One of the sports that has been a constant in both the ancient and modern versions of the Olympics is Archery. In India the sport has its name etched on to folklore with presence in famous mythological stories such as Ramayana and Mahabharata.For the past two decades, the country has produced the finest archers for the world to see. However, due to the inconsistency of performance have not seen Olympic glory, but India’s record at the Asian and Commonwealth Games is something to be proud of.The recently concluded Asia Cup saw them garner two gold medals from the event. Here are the best archers from India:
#1 Deepika Kumari
India’s Olympic hope is just 20-years old and has already reached the world number one position. Despite faltering at the 2012 London Olympics, Kumari won double gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
She has also won a bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. Trained at the Tata Archery Academy, Kumari announced herself to the world, after winning the Junior Compound World Cup.
Kumari also has an impressive performance at the Archery World Cups, winning three consecutive silver medals.
With the 2016 Rio Olympics round the corner, Kumari will the Indian archery contingent’s main hope.
#2 Limba Ram
Indian archery’s first ever international level competitor was also a world record holder heading into the final of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The same year, he set the world record in the 30m event, registering a score of 357/360.
From a tribal village in Rajasthan, Ram used to hunt birds for food through his indigineous bow and arrow, within a span of 10 years, he went onto become a world record holder.
A gold at the Asian Archery Cup and a gold at the Commonwealth Archery Championship highlighted the form Ram was in heading into Barcelona. He finished fifth in the final, one point behind the bronze medallist.
Ram has received both the Arjuna and Padma Shri award.
#3 Jayanta Talukdar
India’s first World Cup winner Jayanta Talukdar, started his career with a bang, after winning a silver medal at the 2004 World Junior Championship. His gold medal in Merida mde him India’s first ever gold medallist at the event.
The same year, he would go onto win the gold medal at the South Asian Games and a bronze medal at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Heading into the 2009 World Cup, Talukdar was also ranked world number one.
In July 2012, he represented India at his first Olympics as a part of the Indian recurve men’s team. The 28-year old has been bestowed with the Arjuna Award.
#4 Tarundeep Rai
Rai began his Archery career, after representing India at 2003 Asian Archery Championship at just 19-yars of age. However, Rai’s first major victory came at the 2010 Asian Games, where he would go onto win the silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games.
The 31-year old was part of the Indian Olympic contingent in both 2008 and 2012. In 2005, he also became the first Indian to make it into a World Championship semi-final, where he narrowly lost out on the bronze medal.
He has also been bestowed with the Arjuna Award.
#5 Dola Banerjee
A part of the 2004 Summer Olympic contingent, Dola Banerjee is India’s first ever international level women’s archer. She won the gold medal 2007 World Cup, making her only the second Indian to do so at that point.
She would also go onto win a bronze and a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The same year Banerjee won a bronze medal at the Guangzhou Asian Games.
Her brother Rahul Banerjee has also represented India at Archery.
