After six stages of selection trials held over three-and-a-half months, the Archery Association of India has announced that Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi will represent India at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The women qualified a full team quota place at the World Archery Championships in Copenhagen in 2015.
Kumari, 21, shot to fame in 2010, when she won the archery competition at the Commonwealth Games in Dehli, and has collected an unprecedented four silver medals at Hyundai Archery World Cup Finals. She was recently presented with a Padmi Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India, for her contribution to sport.
Laishram, 31, has been a successful contributor to the India’s international squad since 2007 and collected 12 podium finishes in Hyundai Archery World Cup and World Archery Championship team events since then.
Majhi, 27, debuted for India on the world stage in 2006 but wasn’t a fixture on the team until 2014. She had her most successful year in ’15, when she finished fourth individually at the worlds.
“It is a well-balanced team with a combination of experience and youth,” said India team coach Dharmendra Tiwary.
“Our immediate target now is to have the men’s team qualify for the Olympics.”
India qualified one men’s place in Copenhagen and has a chance to upgrade to a team invitation at stage three of the 2016 Hyundai Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey.
Jayanta Talukdar, Atanu Das and Mangal Singh Champia will be the team that attempts to do that.
If they manage it, the three will then be the men’s team at the Games, but if India remains with a single place, further selection shoots will determine which of the trio attends Rio.
