In a mixed day for Indian archery, the recurve section saw a thumping performance but the compound section was a big letdown, in the Commonwealth Games competition at Yamuna Sports Complex in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Competing in her third successive Olympics, two-time world No. 1 Deepika has seen it all, from the lows of London to hitting rock-bottom at Rio 2016.
The exclusion of shooting, wrestling and archery from the initial programme of 2026 Commonwealth Games as "grave injustice" to the country
India finally came good, assuring themselves at least a silver medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 being held in Medellin, Colombia.
Indian archers produced an impressive performance, winning six medals, including two gold, at the 16th Asian Championship in Indonesia.
A look at the few bright spots, the many worries, and moments that made for a distinctly indelible 2020.
Former India opener and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Thursday clarified that the archery ground at the Yamuna Sports Complex has only been upgraded after some top Indian archers, including World No 1 Deepika Kumari, raised concerns about it being converted into a cricket field.
Jyothi, who had a dream run in the Antalya Stage en route to securing her maiden individual World Cup gold medal, got a first-round bye and in a collision course with the Mexico World champion in the semi-final.
India added seven more medals, including two gold, to their kitty on the penultimate day of competition at the fifth Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, Samoa, on Thursday. Archer Prachi Singh, in the girls' recurve individual event, and the tennis mixed doubles team of Sasikumar Mukund and Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal accounted for the gold medals.
Indian archers bowed out of the team events after failing to get past the mighty Koreans for a second time in the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.
Sumit Antil clinched a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games javelin throw F64 event with a world record effort of 73.29m.
Deepika Kumari advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women's individual recurve event as Indian archers rounded off a good day in office at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Deepika and Atanu form the mixed team and they kickstarted their training
Buoyed by the record medal haul at the Hangzhou Asian Games, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha on Sunday supported the government's plan to place a proposal to host the 2036 Olympics.
Indian pair of Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari faltered against American Olympic medalists Brady Ellison and Khatuna Lorig in the mixed section semifinals of the Archery World Cup Stage 3 being held in Medellin, Colombia.
The Indian contingent, comprising under-20 boys and girls archers, were scheduled to leave for the United States on Friday for the June 8-14 event in Yankton, South Dakota, but the US embassy granted visas to only seven archers, two coaches and a Sports Authority of India official while rejecting 20, thereby putting serious doubts over India's participation in the event.
India's Atanu Das showed fine composure and skill to bounce back from a poor start in his maiden Olympics to finish fifth in the qualification round as archery got the underway at the Rio Olympics in Brazil's historic Samba street in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
International archer Jayanta Talukdar on Tuesday rued the dismal performance of the country's archery team in the ongoing London Olympics and said it urgently needed a psychologist and a physio-therapist to enhance its confidence level and mental science.
The Indian compound archery team and the mixed pair claimed three gold medals in the morning session, in Shillong, to swell their tally in the 12th South Asian Games on Monday.
The trio of Bombayala Devi, Deepika Kumari and Rimil Buriuly came up with a brilliant performance to beat the mighty South Koreans in the final of the recurve team final in Poland on Sunday.
Three wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh, who were to take part in the World University Games beginning on Friday in Chengdu, were issued 'stapled visas' by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, which led to the entire team being held back while the players from other sports left the country.
With 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze in their kitty, the Indian para athletes won four medals more than the record tally of 107 won by the able-bodied athletes in the Hangzhou Asian Games, held from September 23 to October 8.
Following is India's schedule at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, July 24.
Powered by Deepika Kumari's gold and bronze medal performances on the concluding day, India finished fourth in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Medellin, Colombia.
Former World champion Dola Banerjee expects India's archers to break their Olympics medal jinx at the Rio de Janeiro gathering from August 5 to 21.
Deepika managed to stay in the top 10 in the qualification round with a total score of 663.
'Everyone has to recalibrate their plans, preparations, peaking, meaning the tournaments they will play in in the lead-up to the Olympics.'
India has been battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many countries to ban travellers from India.
Indian athletes, including the boxers and shooters, hit the ground running as they started their pre-Olympic training, hoping to live up to massive expectations in the pandemic-hit Games in Tokyo.
Country's archers have proved their mettle at the international level but they tend to choke at the biggest stage.
The historic cricket ground will play host to its first international archery competition on Monday.
The return of shooting, which was controversially dropped from the Birmingham CWG earlier this year, is a welcome development for India.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, on Friday, October 7.
Das failed to score a 10 in the fifth set and slipped to the red-circle for an 8, which proved costly, as home favourite Takaharu Furukawa sealed the issue by a solitary point margin in the decider.
Das saw off a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei's Deng Yu-Cheng earlier in the day.
After a year's delay due to COVID-19, the 19th Asian Games officially opens in Hangzhou on Saturday with hosts China eager to lift a country mired in economic gloom.
Led by Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, India will seek to showcase its ascendency as a sporting power at the Asian Games, which opens formally on Saturday after an unprecedented one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
'My day starts off with Pranayam and visualisation practice for about 45 minutes. After breakfast, it's time to learn some cooking'
India's first Paralympic medal winner archer Harvinder Singh, who had turned his farm at a Punjab village into a practice ground during the lockdown, on Tuesday attributed his success to long hours of training, including "practice of tie shots and breathing exercises".
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