"I'm not a quitter, I will fight back" - Deepika Kumari determined to fight her way back into the India squad for Asian Games 2022

Deepika Kumari ranked fifth spot in the national women's recurve archery team. She failed to book a spot for the Hangzhou Asian Games in September in the recently concluded qualifiers.

The 27-year-old archer is currently out of the Asian Games squad but has vowed to fight back to earn a spot before the tournament is held later this year.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Kumari said:

“I will prove myself, I’m not a quitter. I will fight back.”

Eight archers were shortlisted after the 2022 Asian Games qualification concluded on Monday in Sonepat, Haryana. Of those eight, four have been clubbed in the A team by the Archery Association of India (AAI). The A team will be entitled to compete at the Asian Games in China.

Archers ranked fifth to eighth, will be a part of the B squad. To strengthen the bench, AAI will send B squad members for other international meets.

Deepika has been a regular member of India A's squad since 2010. Missing out on the elite group is weighing on her mind.

“It hurts me that I’m not in the A team. It’s not that my performance is very bad or that other archers are exceptionally good. The margin of winning and losing is very thin,” Deepika said upon missing a berth for the Asian Games.

Deepika Kumari believes it is difficult to pin-point at what exactly went wrong as the archery game has a lot of minute details that determine the outcome.

“Sometimes the body and mind doesn’t synchronize. There are several other factors for losing a big match.” the Arjuna Awardee said.

Outside chance for Deepika Kumari to make the cut for the Asian Games

Not all is lost for Deepika Kumari. The 2010 Commonwealth Games champion and World Cup medalist from Ranchi in Jharkhand still has a slim chance of making the cut for the Asian Games. But the situation is tricky.

First, she has to prperform exceptionally well in the competitions she competes in the immediate near future. Secondly, a decline in the performance of any of the leading four archers in the A team in the coming months could give her a chance to move up to fourth spot.

“There is no doubt Deepika does train hard. But wilting under pressure during the crucial juncture of the matches spoiled her chances for the Asian Games,” a senior national archery coach explained. “She has to consistently perform in coming months.”

Deepika Kumari will compete in the upcoming archery national rankings tournaments and World Cup in July.

According to the archery coach, Deepika has to be mentally tough to stay on the track.

“Being a seasoned archer I’m sure Deepika herself is aware of the “lack of mental attitude during crunch situations at the major events,” the coach added.

Being a high-profile archer, Deepika has the advantage of having a sports psychologist on her team.

“No doubt interacting with a psychologist has made me mentally strong,” Deepika reveals. “I should make a point to fine tuning my brain on a daily business to stay healthy for competitions.”

A former national archery coach said:

“The competition is becoming tough. There is no guarantee in the national team as everyone is eager to make an impression.”

Deepika Kumari said that sometimes the body and mind doesn’t synchronize in competition.

“There are times when mind says yes but the body starts rebelling,” the Jharkhand archer said. “In an event like archery fraction of seconds decides winner or loser. It is difficult to explain what went wrong.”

There is a buzz in the archery circle that Deepika should quit as she hasn’t performed up to her potential at the Olympic Games since the 2012 London Games. At 27, Deepika Kumari doesn’t have plans to quit.

“Several people have already made up their mind that I’m not a good archer now. But I’m going to fightback and prove myself,” she concluded.