Failure to make Olympic cut propelled Komalika to junior world title

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Komalika Bari’s junior world title meant she emulated her state and national teammate Deepika Kumari by becoming only the second Indian archer ever to to win the World cadet and junior crown in successive attempts. But Komalika knows that from now on, she will have to learn how to handle pressure more than before.

The 19-year-old’s breakout performance came in 2019 when she won her first individual title at the Youth Worlds in Madrid. She has made the senior cut a number of times and even has two team gold medals to her name. But her first slice of disappointment arrived when the fancied women’s team failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, a memory which she said helped her at Wroclaw.

“The pain is still there. It helped me focus and I kept calm under pressure. One of the main positives was that I could concentrate on the process much better because what usually happens is we tend to shift our attention to the target and to the result,” she said on the sidelines of a felicitation organised by the Archery Association of India and NTPC.

And the assignments are going to get tougher with time as the next competition for the recurve archer is the World Championship. India are set to field a team short on experience but full of hunger. None of the archers who made the Olympic cut are there after failing to qualify via a trial. “We will need to handle pressure even better than before. That is the biggest task ahead of us. I know more eyes will be on me from now on but I’m confident.”  Komalika also combined with Parth Salunkhe in junior mixed team to add another yellow metal.

Breaking into the senior team, playing with and against top archers has helped the Jamshedpur athlete to improve considerably. Even the AAI is focussing on the upcoming archers as can be seen from the World Championship team selection. “Personally, training with the senior archers on an everyday basis and playing at the international arena has played a big role in our success. It also gives you the confidence that you belong at this level.”

India registered a total of 15 medals — 8 gold, 2 silver, and 5 bronze, from the archery championships, their best-ever in this tournament. Asian heavyweights Korea and China did not take part. The camp for the World Championships will begin in a couple of days at the SAI Sonepat centre.