If India has a hope of qualifying an athlete for the World Cup Final, it likely rests with one of those three – or Atanu DAS – as the only athletes from the nations with points scored towards Lausanne 2014.
Three-time World Cup Final silver medallist Deepika Kumari won’t be picking up a fourth medal in a row in September. She missed out on her spot in India’s squad before the first stage at Shanghai this year but was brought back for Medellin.
We knew before that stage she was struggling – but after a zero-point finish, KUMARI has been once again relegated to reserve. Bombayla Devi Laishram, Laxmirani Majhi, Madhu Vedwan and Asharani Horo comprise India’s recurve women’s team at Antalya 2014 in Kumari’s stead.
Two of the three recurve men who took Korea to a shoot-off for team gold in Medellin return for the third World Cup stage.
Atanu Das and Sanjay Boro shot just three arrows out of the 10-ring between them in the final two sets and decider of that match.
The pair will be joined by veteran Jayanta Talukdar – who shot in the first ever World Cup Final at Merida 2006 – and Bulbul Marandi.
With no Indian archers high in the World Cup ranking tables right now, Antalya could decide whether the nation is represented at all at Lausanne later this year. No individual success, no finalists… the pressure is on.
Competition at the third 2014 Archery World Cup stage in Antalya starts on Wednesday 11 June. Check event news, and visit World Archery’s Facebook page and @worldarchery on Twitter for coverage.
