On the shoulders of Rahul Banerjee, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Champia, India’s recurve men’s 2016 Olympic qualification shoulders rest.
The trio has known each other for nearly two decades now – they are 28, 29 and 31 years old, respectively – but only started shooting together as a team in 2007.
That year – at the Asian Championships in Xi'an, China – the team won gold to start a successful career that has seen consistent results delivered through different Archery World Cup stages, Asian Games and championships.
Jayanta and Rahul was part of the Indian team that won a spot for London 2012 at the last chance qualification tournament held in Ogden, USA. There, they picked up silver – but at the Games the Indians finished ninth.
Two years ago in Belek, India went out in their first match of the worlds. Jayanta Talukdar, the only returning archer from that line-up.
Kapil and Tarundeep Rai, Talukdar’s teammates in Belek, both made it to the fourth round before losing in straight sets. Rai to the reigning Olympic Champion Oh Jin Hyek, while Kapil to Dai Xiaoxiang – the eventual silver medallist.
Jayanta went out one round earlier to two-time Pan American Champion from Mexico Luis Alvarez.
Arriving five days early in Copenhagen, in order to adjust to the weather, the city and even the time zone – India is three hours ahead – expectations were settled, a mission in mind: win a team quota place for Rio 2016 during the event team on Tuesday.
We caught up them after the official practice in Copenhagen. Read on and meet the team…
How different is archery in India from the rest of the world?
Rahul: “Considering all I have seen from the countries have been to, I think that the big difference is that in our country archery is taken very seriously.”
“Archery is a profession, while in the rest of the world it can be taken as a hobby. We might be less in number, but not in competition level.”
How was the team selection process for these worlds?
Jayanta: “Every time we want to make the Indian team, things gets harder. We had a selection trial before the world championships with a total of 32 archers. We had a ranking round, head-to-head matches and so on until we were only eight.”
“Straight after, we had round robin matches and based on our results we were selected for the team. It was hard but we enjoyed the process.”
What does it mean to represent India?
Mangal: “Any of us on the team is always proud to represent India around the world but to be here in Copenhagen, it means something different. We are not only looking for world medals or titles but to qualify for Rio 2016, which is the biggest goal.”
Jayanta: “It’s just great! We had a hard preparation ahead of these worlds, so we will do anything we can to make sure that pays off.”
What are the expectations at home from these Championships?
Rahul: “We are aware everybody wants to win a medal as much as we do. As a team, we are back in form to give our best. Our people expect that, so we’ll see if things go our way.”
Jayanta: “In India it is really all about cricket but we are making archery more interesting, gathering more attention. People support us, we get their blessing and they do care about our results. They believe we can do well and qualify for the Olympics, so as far as we can make it possible and win medals, people will keep getting involved.”
What does it mean that Copenhagen is the main Olympic qualifier?
Rahul: “Olympic qualifier plus World Championships… can it get any better? I think Copenhagen speaks for itself! We will try to win the first matches and get a good position; we are going for the best result possible here.”
Two hundred and thirty-three archers fighting for three medals… How tough is that?
Jayanta: “United States, Chinese Taipei… I mean, so many strong teams with so many recognisable archers make things as tough as you want.”
“Weather conditions have been very rainy and windy these few days. As we believe they will be the same for the rest of the week, it will make things even harder.”
“The weather is a challenge for us.”
How do you feel shooting as a team?
Mangal: “We know each other very well on and off the field. We are friends.”
“We have been together for nearly 10 years and we have travelled together to many places, won medals for our country and, of course, supported each other. It always feels good to compete with Rahul and Jayanta.”
Rahul: “We work well as a team. Since we started shooting together back in 2007, we won several Archery World Cup medals and we were ranked as the number one team in the world, too.”
“There have been years the team have changed for many reasons but every time we get together we remember our good days and try to reflect it on the field.”
Tell us one piece of gossip from your teammates…
[All laugh]
Rahul: “Mangal is always sleeping. He sleeps everywhere he can no matter the weather or the conditions!”
Janyanta: “All our gossips are about Mangal!” [Laughs] “He tries to hide but it’s impossible. He’s funny, he sleeps a lot!”
How many medals are you taking home from Copenhagen?
Jayanta: “We are expecting two medals. One as a team and one individual medal that can be won by any one of us. It doesn’t matter who wins, we just care to perform well as a team.”
One prediction?
Mangal: “What about India winning gold?”
Jayanta: “I think Korea will be top-ranked on qualification rounds but will not perform so well during medal matches. I bet this time, different names will come out on top.”
“It cannot always be about them. There a lot of strong teams here that are going to give a big show, us included.”
