Jamshedpur: India’s top woman archer Deepika Kumari today said she could have won the gold instead of silver in the just concluded World Cup championship had she not misjudged while shooting the last arrow during rains.
“It was my fault. I had to make a judgement in respect to all aspects of the competition including weather condition and wind speed. “But I made a misjudgement before shooting the last arrow against the Korean rival (Bo Bae Ki) and lost by two points,” Deepika, who was felicitated by the Tata Steel on her return to Jamshedpur on Tuesday, told newsmen. Deepika came close to winning the World Cup final but went down to Olympic double gold medallist Bo Bae Ki to settle for a silver in the recurve women’s individual event in Tokyo on Sunday.
“It was raining since morning and it was hard to shoot in rain,” she said but hastened to add that it was no excuse as the weather condition was same for her rival as well. Asked how she felt after winning the silver following her dismal performance in the London Olympics in July, the World No.2 archer said she went to Japan with a relaxed mind and was determined to give her best in the competition, her first international event after the Olympics. She said she learnt from the silly mistakes she had committed in London and reiterated her demand for appointment of a psychologist to improve the players’ confidence. Unlike in Olympics, the expectation of people to win a medal was not there in Japan, Deepika, who was a Manager (Sports) of Tata Steel, said.
The CWG double gold medallist said it was the second time that she lost to Bo Bae Ki in the World Cup final after her defeat in China last year. About her next championship, Deepika said she would now focus on the Senior National Championship, to be held in Chennai in the last week of December.
Meanwhile, Capt Amitabh, Head of Sports, Tata Steel, said the Tata Archery Academy (TAA) was in search for a sport psychologist and was in negotiation to engage an agency for the purpose. “We are in negotiation with some agencies but yet to finalise one,” Amitabh said on the sidelines of the felicitation programme of Deepika. Refusing to name the agencies, he said they were in consultation also with Army Sports Institute and agencies promoting sports in the country.
The psychologist could be an Indian or a foreigner but “we want to ensure that the archers are comfortable with the person”, he said. (PTI)