““The focus will be on individual events" - Sanjeeva Kumar Singh rues missed opportunity for team to secure Paris Olympics qualification

The national men's and women’s recurve archery squad wasn’t successful in clinching Paris Olympic Games quota places in the ongoing 2023 World Archery Championship in Berlin, Germany.

The men’s team lost to Korea in the quarterfinals, while the women’s team failed to beat the Netherlands in the last eight stage of the team event. The world championship was the first competition of 2023 that offered quota places. The top four in the team event will get automatic quota places for the 2014 Paris Olympic Games.

The men’s squad of Mrinal Chouhan, Dhiraj Bommadevara, and Tushar Prabhakar Shelke lost to Korea 1-5. The women's team of Bhajan Kaur, Anikta Bhakat, and Simranjeet Kaur lost to the Netherlands 2-6, to bow out of the team competition.

India’s high-performance director Sanjeeva Kumar Singh blamed the local weather conditions for failing to earn an Olympics quota place in Berlin, saying the team missed a golden chance.

“Strong changing winds,” was Singh’s response when asked the reason for not so encouraging performance.

But the situation would have been no different for the rival teams.

While another coach associated with the national team said, the archers weren’t able to perform on a given day. “The players have to now focus on winning individual quota,” national archery coach from Berlin said on condition of anonymity.

Despite extensive international exposure and good facilities in the buildup months for the World Archery Championship, the elite archers wilted under pressure. The national team also has roped in sports psychologist and foreign coach to polish the skills of the players.

“The focus will be on individual events to earn an Olympics quota place,” the national archery coach said over the phone from Berlin.

For the team quota place, the national team will have to wait until the Asian Championships in November, which will be the second Olympic qualification event.

A total of 128 archers, including 64 women, will compete in the Paris Olympic Games. Apart from individual and team, the mixed team event which made its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, will also feature in the programme.