Archer Abhishek Verma, who recently won a gold medal in the World Cup, feels the performances of Indian athletes in the showpiece event show that they are ready for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
Abhishek clinched his second individual World Cup gold in the Archery World Cup Stage three in Paris. Abhishek emerged victorious after beating USA's Kris Schaff in a shoot-off to win the gold medal.
Archer Deepika Kumari also came out with flying colours as she completed a trifecta of gold medals on Sunday afternoon with her victory in the recurve women's event at the third stage of the ongoing 2021 Archery World Cup.
Moreover, India women's recurve team comprising Deepika, Komalika Bari, and Ankita Bhakat on Sunday bagged a gold medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Paris.
"This was a big event and winning a medal was difficult because players across the world participated in it. To defeat the top players was obviously the hardest task but now they know that Indian players are not there to give up," Abhishek told ANI.
"All archers are working hard for the Olympics. Winning gold in this tournament and clinching medals in the previous competitions tells that the Indian archers are ready for the main event," he added.
Abhishek on Tuesday met Archery Association of India (AAI) chief and Union Minister Arjun Munda. The AAI chief said the governing body is working on identifying more such talents in the country.
"AAI is working on identifying talented archers from rural areas of India. Talent hunt for archers is also being organised to find out next-generation players who will achieve similar success," said Arjun Munda
"I want to congratulate all players who are playing the sport with a fighting spirit. I'm confident that the Indian contingent not only in archery but in all sports will perform well in Olympics," he added.
India's ace archer Deepika defeated Russia's Elena Osipova 6-0 in a thumping manner.
This is Deepika's second individual World Cup Gold medal of 2021 and the third gold of the day as she had earlier won gold in the women's team and mixed team event as well on Sunday.
Deepika was born and brought up in a lower-middle-class family in the Ratu area on the outskirts of Ranchi. Her father is an auto-rickshaw driver and her mother is a part of the nursing staff.
Earlier the husband-wife duo of Atanu Das and Deepika clinched their first World Cup gold medal as a pair after defeating the Dutch pair of Gabriela Schloesser and Sjef Van Den Berg 5-3 after being a set down.
( With inputs from ANI )
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