On the same day when PV Sindhu created history by winning the BWF World Championship, there was another Indian woman who made the country proud. Komalika Bari in Madrid, Spain won the gold in World Archery Youth Championships.
She defeated Japan’s Sonoda Waka who is ranked higher than her. The final was pretty one-sided. Komalika Bari took a 4-0 lead in the beginning before wrapping up the gold at 7-3.
The gold came at a time when the championship was the last one for Archery Association of India (AAI) and the ban by World Archery Federation (WAF) will come into existence post this month.
The latest reports give hope of the ban lifted or reduced.
Komalika Bari spoke to Hindustan Times via WhatsApp recorded message and expressed his happiness and thanked her coach.
“I am feeling exalted being a world champion, however, it was not easy. It’s been long hard work and it was very important for me to win to believe in my capabilities that I belong to the top level. My coaches Sushanto Patro, Dharemndra Tiwari, Purnima Mahato Anil Kumar and Bikash Upadhyay all helped me a lot.”
Jamshedpur-born Komalika scripted history at the age of 17. She became the second woman to win archer (recurve cadet) champion after Deepika Kumari who won the title in 2009.
Many know her achievement but most people don’t know the struggle. She had to cycle 18 kms every day to reach the Tata Archery Academy (TAA) only after Sushanto Patro spotted her extraordinary talent.
Ghanashyam Bari father of Komalika recalled the difficult times when she started archery and said:
“We didn’t have money to buy her archery equipment and sold a part of our house in Birsanagar to buy her the equipment. Hard work has brought her this success but she needs to continue performing to reach the top. She used to cycle 18 kms daily from our Birsanagar home to Tata Archery Academy (TAA).”
