'Medal hopes from Deepika, Atanu'

Nagpur, July 29

Expressing satisfaction over the performance of Indian archers particularly in individual events, Amravati-based general secretary of Archery Association of India (AAI) Pramod Chandurkar said there are lot of medal hopes from Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das in the individual events in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

He also praised Satara's archer Pravin Jadhav who has participated in the Olympics for the first time as a future prospect.

While talking to Lokmat Times Chandurkar said, “ Although we lagged behind in the team events, we still have medal hopes in the individual events and that too particularly from Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das. They have been working hard to achieve the glory for last four years”.

Asked what went wrong in the team event Chandurkar said, “ Team event is an altogether different event. It requires good coordination and the particular situation is also important. When you face a big opponent then naturally mental pressure increases sand that ultimately affected the performance”, he said.

However, Chandurkar said they had lot of hopes in the mixed event but the archers failed to live up to the expectation. “ We had a combination of Deepika and Atanu but their mixed team partnership was split up as Atanu slipped four places behind Olympian debutant Pravin Jadhav. Then as per the rules, we changed the combination and unfortunately that affected our prospects”, he said.

About Atanu's sensation victory over gold medal winner in the men's team event Oh Jin Hyek Chandurkar said, “ The opponent had lot of experience till then our Indian archer overcome me. Naturally his confidence is increased and it will help him in the next round”, he said.

Box

Jadhav is future prospect

Chandurkar also appreciated the performance of Pravin Jadhav who went down to World No. 1 in the men's individual recurve event “ Jadhav is born at Satara but brought up in Amravati academy. I personally coached him in the academy and also helped him to secure a job in the Indian Army. His real journey has started with Tokyo Olympics. His next test will be World Championship that will be held next month. He got viral experience in the Olympics and I have no doubt that he is India's prospect in the next Olympics. He is very hard worker, calm and dedicated towards his goal”, said Chandurkar.