Deepika Kumari Biography: One of India’s greatest archers in history, Deepika Kumari has elevated the sport to a new level. She gained notoriety in 2010 when she won the women’s individual recurve archery Commonwealth gold medal. She subsequently added another gold to her haul in the team’s competition. Here’s everything you need to know about Indian Archery Superstar, Deepika Kumari.
India’s Archery Superstar, Deepika Kumari Biography
Early Days
Without a doubt, Deepika Kumari is one of the finest Indian archers to have ever competed in the sport. She was born on June 13, 1994, in Ranchi, to Shivnarayan Mahato, an auto-rickshaw driver, and Geeta Mahato, a nurse at Ranchi Medical College.
From an early age, Kumari showed signs of her inherent skill. When she was younger, she and her parents lived in Ratu Chatti hamlet, 15 km from Ranchi, without any means of practicing with the necessary tools. She was forced to practice using stones instead of a bow and arrow and mangoes as her target.
Since Deepika came from a financially struggling household, it was relatively difficult for her parents to financially support her desire, regularly compromising the family budget to purchase new equipment for her training.
According to the most recent World Archery Rankings (2021), she represents India in recurve archery and is presently ranked first.
Competitive archery comes in two different flavors. Recurve is one, while compound is the other. The word “recurve” refers to the way the bow’s frame is shaped. Recurve bows have tips that curve outward towards the target, giving them extra force when drawn back. Compound bows, on the other hand, employ a pulley system that relieves stress on the bow and offers slack to the archer, facilitating accurate shooting.
The TATA Archery Academy
In 2005, Deepika Kumari enrolled in the Meera Munda-founded Arjun Archery Academy in Kharsawan. The state’s chief minister, Shri Arjun Muda, is married to Meera. At that point, Kumari achieved her first success. Her professional adventure did not start until she enrolled at the Jamshedpur-based Tata Archery Academy.
She was able to practice in a uniform and with the necessary tools for the first time while she was at the Tata Archery Academy. She also received financial support in the form of a stipend of Rs 500, in addition to technical assistance that helped her develop her abilities. Only once throughout those three years, following her victory in the Cadet World Championship, she returned home in 2019.
The 11th Youth World Archery Championship, held in Ogden, Utah, in 2009, was won by Deepika Kumari. She had just turned fifteen. She became just the second Indian to win this championship with her victory. Palton Hansda was the first Indian to accomplish this accomplishment. The Hansda have successfully defended their Junior Compound crown at the 2006 Archery World Cup. In the women’s team recurve competition at the 2009 World Cup, Deepika won gold alongside Bombayla Devi, Dola Banerjee, and Banerjee. For this young person from Ranchi, there was no turning back beyond that point.
Deepika Kumari Glory at CWG and the Asian Games 2010
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Deepika won two gold medals—one in the women’s team recurve event and one in the solo competition. She won the Outstanding Performance at Commonwealth Games (Female) Award at the 2010 Sahara Sports Awards as a result of her outstanding efforts.
She lost a crucial chance to win a medal at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, as she was defeated by Kwon Un Sil of North Korea in the play-off for the bronze medal in the women’s archery competition a few months later. However, she defeated Chinese Taipei 218–217 in the bronze play-off as a member of the Indian archery recurve team, together with Rimil Buriuly and Dola Banerjee, to secure a podium finish at the Aoti Archery Range.
Gold at Antalya and No.1 ranking in 2012
In May 2012, Deepika Kumari triumphed in the single-stage recurve gold World Cup competition in Antalya, Turkey. She would go on to finish 2012 by clearly taking the top spot in the World Archery rankings.
She was forced to withdraw in the first round of the 2012 London Olympics after falling to Amy Oliver, and she blamed her fairly subpar performance on sickness and strong gusts.
Deepika Kumari – The Resilient Indian Archer Glory at the World Cup 2013
Indian archer Deepika Kumari won gold at stage three of the 2013 Archery World Cup, which was hosted in Colombia. India came in fourth place overall. She was defeated by South Korea’s Yunk Ok-Hee in the gold medal match at the FIRA Archery World Cup two months later, and she was forced to settle for the silver medal. Her third silver medal in three World Cup Final appearances was that one.
2014 – A remorseful period
She had a significant setback in 2014 when she failed to qualify for the Indian squad after placing outside the top 4 in the national competition.
2015 – Russians take gold, India settles for silver
In the Second stage of the World Cup, she won her first medal of the year. The bronze medal was hers in the individual competition. At the Copenhagen World Championship, she later won Silver alongside Laxminrani Manjhi and Rimil Buriuly. They were defeated by Russia in the gold medal shootout, which resulted in a 4-5 victory for the Russians.
2016- The Indian Archer Equals world record & Rio Olympics
Deepika Kumari, an Indian archer, wrote history during the opening round of the World Cup in Shanghai. In the recurve event, she matched Ki Bo-bae’s world record of (686/720). She was a member of the group that earned a spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics. The women’s recursive team fell against Russia in the quarterfinal round and came in seventh place overall.
She got things going in the women’s archery competition with a stunning victory in the round of 64. Kristine Esebua of Lithuania was beaten by her by a score of 6-4. She easily defeated the Italian Guendalina Sartori with a score of 6-2 in the following round. However, Taipei’s Tan Ya-ting humiliated her with a 0-6 victory in the round of 16. At that point, her campaign came to an end.
2017: A Determined Indian Archer Deepika Kumari has all the Focus
Deepika won the Archery World Cup ranking round earlier this year in June by earning 672 out of a possible 720 points. She acknowledged that regular practice of her technique had improved her performance, which was a significant confidence boost for her following a disastrous eighth-place showing in the first leg at Shanghai the previous year. Along with perfecting her technique, she researched outside elements like the weather that can have an impact on her performance. Her practice was appropriately guided by this, and her diligent labor produced excellent outcomes.
She said there were doubts about her ability to adapt her form to the big stage after her lackluster performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She started losing weight and exercising hard. During the winter off-season, she shed 7 kg with the assistance of a new trainer. Through Kumari’s metamorphosis, it is clear the value of fitness and the part it plays in sports.
Later, Deepika won a bronze medal in the 2018 World Cup.
Deepika Kumari Family
Shivnarayan Mahato and Geeta Mahato welcomed Deepika Kumari into the world on June 13, 1994, in the hamlet of Ratu Chatti, close to Ranchi. Her mother, Geeta, was a nurse at the Ranchi Medical Hospital, while her father, Shiv Narayan, drove a rickshaw.
Deepika Kumari Achievements
- Silver at the 2015 Copenhagen World Championships (Women’s Team)
- Silver at the 2011 Torino World Championships (Women’s Team)
- Gold at the 2012 Medellin World Cup (Individual)
- 2013 Antalya World Cup: Gold (Individual)
- Gold at the 2018 Salt Lake City World Cup (Individual)
- Bronze at the 2018 Turkey World Cup (Women’s Recurve)
- Silver at 2012 Tokyo World Cup (Individual)
- 2011 Istanbul World Cup: Silver (Individual)
- Silver at 2013 Shanghai World Cup (Individual)
- Commonwealth Games
- Gold at 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games (Recurve Individual)
- Gold at 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games (Recurve Individual)
- Bronze at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games (Recurve team)
Deepika Kumari Awards
- Arjuna Award (2012)
- FICCI Sportsperson of the Year Award (2014)
- Padma Shri (2016)
