Are India and Mexico the favourites for last team quotas in Paris?
Its existence is unanimous.
Whether the pressure affects an archer’s performance is a different matter entirely.
“Of course we are under pressure,” India’s Komalika Bari said during Friday’s practice session in Paris, where she and her teammates will compete for one of the three last Olympic team quota places available this weekend.
“I’m nervous,” Mexico’s Ana Vazquez added, explaining that she is doing her best to ignore the stakes attached to the event.
“Thinking like that, I would feel more pressure,” she said. “The way I calm myself is to think that we should do a good job. If we do a good job, the result will be good, too.”
Pressure is unavoidable at this stage of the qualification process, but it might be particularly acute for the recurve women’s teams from India and Mexico, which boast two of the best rosters still in search of full three-athlete quotas ahead of Sunday’s final qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Paris represents the final opportunity for both nations to upgrade their single women’s quota places to team invitations in Japan. Deepika Kumari, the former world number one, is set to compete at her third consecutive Olympics, but India wants to qualify a second and third recurve woman to the Games as well.
Alejandra Valencia, who finished fourth in the recurve women’s competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, owns Mexico's individual spot. She is joined by London 2012 silver medallist Aida Roman and the world youth championship runner-up Vazquez at this critical event.
“I don’t really have a lot of expectations. I prefer not to have them,” Vazquez said. “I’m nervous, but I think we have worked a lot for this. I’m confident that my team and I will bring a nice show. We are well-prepared. Whatever the result is, our work is going to be fine.”
The two nations are well acquainted after competing in the gold medal match at the first stage of the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Guatemala City.
India’s trio of Bari, Kumari and Ankita Bhakat took a strong step forward on their quest to augment their quota by winning the final, defeating Mexico in a high-pressure shoot-off. But both teams are viable candidates to win the day on Sunday and book their tickets to Japan.
“We can’t say that, but our practise and performance are on a high level,” Bari said. “We can achieve the Olympic quota. We worked hard for that.”
The final qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games starts with the men’s team tournament on Saturday.
