ParisAbandoned after the Tokyo Olympics debacle, Indian star archer Deepika Kumari is all set to make a comeback in India in the upcoming Stage 3 of the World Cup which kicks off here on Tuesday.
Exactly one year after she won individual gold in the same tournament last year, the 28-year-old world No. 3 will try to save herself after failing to win a medal at the Tokyo Games.
The fact that the Olympics will take place at the same location in two years’ time will be an extra motivation for Deepika, who also won a silver medal from the World Cup final here in 2013.
After returning empty-handed from her third Olympic campaign last year, Deepika saw a relapse in form alongside her husband and the nation’s top male archer. Atanu Das and failed to make the Indian team.
The duo also failed to qualify for the team for the Asian Games which was later postponed due to the Archery Association of India re-trial of the top eight archers for the third stage of the World Cup.
Previously, the same squad was scheduled to compete in both the World Cup Stage 3 and the Asian Games, but after the postponement, Deepika and Pravin Jadhav, who were in the top-8 of the previously conducted trial, were given another chance and made the cut.
Das, however, missed having finished outside the top-8 in the previously conducted test.
Deepika made the cut at the expense of Komalika Bari, while her Olympic mixed team partner Jadhav in Tokyo ousted Sachin Gupta to complete the World Cup Stage 3 lineup.
Deepika was last seen in action for India in the Yankton World Cup final in September 2021, where she finished fourth.
Also on the compound section was the return of World Championship silver medalist Jyothi Surekha Vennam, who also failed to compete in the Asian Cup earlier this year.
World No. 3 Jyothi last competed at the Dhaka Asian Championships in November last year, where she won individual gold. She returned in place of Raginee Makoo.
Sangampreet Bisla also made a comeback by ousting veteran Rajat Chauhan in the compound section.
India team:
Recurve men: Tarundeep Rai, Jayanta Talukdar, Pravin Jadhav and Neeraj Chauhan.
Recurve Women: Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat, Ridhi Phor and Simranjeet Kaur.
Composite men: Abhishek Verma, Aman Saini, Mohan Bhardwaj and Sangampreet Bisla.
Composite women: Jyothi Surekha Venna, Priya Gurjar, Avneet Kaur and Muskan Kirar.
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