World champion and Asian Games gold medal winner in archery, Ojas Pravin Deotale is looking for a job

Back in 2017, the parents of teenage compound archer Ojas Pravin Deotale refused to financially support him to buy the required equipment to pursue the sport. The promising archer from Nagpur, Maharashtra, was staring at quitting the sport and focusing on his academics.

But it was a God-sent opportunity that his uncle supported him financially to procure equipment worth Rs 90,000. It changed his sporting career. From a casual archer in 2017 to a world champion in 2023 and multiple Asian Games medal winner at the just concluded 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, Ojas has had a remarkable journey.

The 21-year-old Maharashtrian archer picked up bow and arrow during summer coaching camps in school.

“Archery was a pastime. It was just for fun during summer camps,” the international archer recalled.

That might have been a reason why Ojas' parents didn’t want to invest money in buying archery equipment for him in 2017.

“My parents told me Rs 90,000 was a big amount and they would rather invest in a business that will be more productive,” Deotale told Sportskeeda about the challenges faced in his formative years.

However, his uncle came to his support and told him not to worry.

“My uncle gave me Rs 90,000. It was a turning point in my nascent sporting career,” Deotale added. “Many talented players quit sports as they don’t get timely support. I must consider myself lucky.”

For Deotale, the 2023 season has been very productive. He has been successful in winning medals in all the four World Cups. He became a world champion in September in Berlin and wrapped up the season on a high note by bagging three gold medals at the Asian Games, winning the men's individual compound event, men's team compound event and mixed team compound event.

“It has been an amazing year for me. My performance was consistent throughout the year,” the 21-year-old international archer said.

International exposure and support from Italian expert Sergio Pegni associated with national camps further added to his confidence.

“The foreign expert fine-tuned my skills. I was consistent in my performance,” he added.

The world champion and Asian Games medal winner doesn’t have a job.

“Financial security is important. People will pat my back when I’m winning. But if my performance graph declines I will not be considered for national camps,” he added.

Deotale concluded by saying that he had no plans to switch to recurve, the archery event that features in the Olympic Games.

“I’ve no plans to change my event,” he added. “I’m hopeful that compound archery will also feature in an Olympic Games in the future.”