Archery refers to the sport or skill of using bows to shoot arrows at targets. Individuals have practised the activity for hundreds of years, i.e., in the form of hunting or fighting in battles and wars. Individuals love indulging in archery both in the conventional offline and online modes.
To indulge in offline archery, individuals require many things, right from a bow and arrows to multiple targets. In the case of online archery, all individuals need is a robust online archery game on their smartphone to get started.
Archery is recognized all around the globe as a prominent sport. Over the years, many players have proven their archery skills by performing at official archery events. This article will highlight some of the most popular Indian archers renowned globally for their exceptional archery skills. Let us get started:
- Atanu Das
Atanu Das is one of the most prominent Indian archers of all time. He first came into the limelight when he clinched a silver medal at the 2011 World Youth Championship. Hailing from West Bengal, Das has represented his country at various prestigious international archery events. Besides winning the silver medal in 2011, Atanu Das has numerous other accolades.
He won a bronze medal at the Asian Archery Grand Prix in Thailand in 2013. Besides this, he clinched another silver medal at the World University Championship in 2014, followed by four medals (2 bronze and two silver medals) in the World Cup. He also made it to the round of 16 in the men’s individual category at the 2016 Olympics held in Rio.
- Jayanta Talukdar
Jayanta Talukdar is a globally recognized Indian archer, thanks to her feat of winning the first-ever gold medal for India. He climbed to the top of the podium at the 2006 World Cup, which was held in Merida. The phenomenal archer kickstarted her career by winning a silver medal in the 2004 World Junior Championship. Followed by this, she left her mark in the World Cup.
After showing phenomenal displays of skills at world archery events, Talukdar clinched bronze medals in two editions of the Asian Games, i.e., in 2006 and 2010. Thanks to his exceptionally consistent performance, he was ranked #1 in the world in 2009. The legendary archer also represented India in London in 2012. Thanks to his accomplishments, Jayanta Talukdar has been honored with the prestigious Arjuna Award.
- Deepika Kumari
Deepika Kumari is considered by many to be the finest Indian archer of all time, all thanks to the plethora of achievements she has been blessed with because of her skills and hard work. She became the golden girl by clinching two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She clinched first place in both the individual as well as the team event.
The best part? She achieved this feat at the age of sixteen. Besides this, she went on to win a bronze medal and a silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games and the 2011 World Championship, respectively. Moreover, Deepika Kumari has also won three gold and three silver medals at numerous World Cups in individual events.
- Dola Banerjee
It is very hard to miss the name of Dola Banerjee in the list of the most popular Indian archers. The top-tier female archer from India first represented her country at the Youth Championships in 1996 when she was only 16. Factually speaking, she is one of the most experienced archers in the world.
One of the greatest achievements of Dola Banerjee was becoming a World Champion in 2007. She also became the first-ever woman to qualify for the individual archery event at the Athens Olympics (2004). Besides these, she also won a gold medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games. Thanks to her achievements in archery, she was honored with the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2005.
- Abhishek Verma
Abhishek Verma has solidified himself as a great archer by winning numerous medals for his country multiple times. For starters, he won a bronze medal at the Archery World Cup with Rajat Chauhan and Aman Saini after defeating the Russians in Turkey. Abhishek clinched his first-ever gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games in the compound team event.
Followed by the gold medal, he also managed to clinch a silver medal in the compound individual category at the same event. Thanks to his exceptional performance in 2014, he was felicitated with the Arjuna Award. After having a successful year in 2014, he left his mark in 2015 by winning a gold and bronze medal at the Asian Archery Championship and the World Cup, respectively.
- Limba Ram
Limba Ram is deemed India’s first international-level archer, thanks to his representation of India in three Olympics. He represented India at the Seoul Games in 1988, then went on to clinch the gold medal at the 1989 Asian Cup in the team event. He also won a silver medal at the same event in the individuals category.
Three years after the 1989 Asian Cup, Ram clinched another gold medal in the individual event at the Asian Championship. He was in his prime when he went into the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. However, he missed out on a bronze medal by merely one point. When it comes to awards, he was awarded the Arjuna Award as well as the Padma Shri in 1991 and 2012, respectively.
The aforementioned archers have left their mark on the history of archery, motivating numerous other young archers to showcase their skills and represent their country at prestigious international archery events.