Paris Olympics countdown | Indian archers set to miss out on Baek’s inputs

Indian archery team faces challenges ahead of Paris Olympics without foreign coach, aiming for historic medal wins with strong preparation.

A well-planned and smooth build-up seems to have hit a roadblock for the Indian archery team with foreign coach Baek Woong Ki not getting accreditation to guide the team at the Paris Olympics.

India, which has never been able to win an Olympic medal in archery, booked men and women quota places after 12 years through the World rankings and is keen to open the account.

As the Archery Association of India (AAI) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) are engaged in a blame game over Baek not getting an accreditation, the absence of the expert Korean coach could deny the Indians crucial inputs during crunch situations.

The archers, including seasoned Tarundeep Rai and Deepika Kumari who will compete in their fourth Olympics, have put in a lot of hard work, going through multi-phase selection trials and several competitions.

They claimed team medals in the Asian Games last year and medalled in two of the three World Cups this year. The men’s team, comprising B. Dhiraj, Tarundeep and Pravin Jadhav, beating World champion Korea in the final to take the World Cup Stage-1 in Shanghai was a morale-boosting moment.

Deepika’s silver in Shanghai and Dhiraj winning two medals, including an individual bronze beating Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mauro Nespoli and a mixed team bronze with Bhajan Kaur, in the World Cup Stage-3 in Antalya in June were exciting results.

The women’s team and individually Ankita Bhakat’s fourth place finishes in Antalya also brought positivity.