 "Olympics 2024: Archers looked strong despite psychologist's delay")
The designated sports psychologist had under 48 hours with the Indian team, yet the archers transformed their initial disappointment into a memorable campaign, including a historic first-ever semifinal, and exited the Paris Olympics on Saturday with a glimmer of promise.
The mixed team of Dhiraj Bommadevara and left-handed Ankita Bhakat notched India's best-ever finish in archery at the Olympics when they made the semifinals before losing to Korea and then USA in the bronze playoff on Friday to finish fourth.
A day later, the most experienced Indian archer-- Deepika Kumari had two sets advantage and needed to clinch another to make the semifinal. But lost yet another Olympics quarterfinal to return empty-handed from her fourth appearance.
Gayatri Vartak, who was associated with the Commonwealth Games medal-winning table tennis team in Birmingham 2022, was the designated sports psychologist for the Indian archery at the Paris Olympics.
But for reasons "not known" she got her Visa only a couple of days back and landed in Paris on Friday morning and headed straight to Esplanade des Invalides, where Dhiraj and Ankita were in competition.
"We tried our best and our officials were in continuous touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and the French embassy but it didn't happen," Archery Association of India president Arjun Munda told PTI.
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Due to the visa issue Vartak said she could not get a single session with the archers in the last month.
"I landed yesterday morning and went straight to the ground. I met them at the ground only. For one month, I was not with them. So there was no face-to-face session," Vartak, who has worked with many elite athletes in her 15 years' experience, said.
"Sports psychology plays a massive role in an athlete's life, whether it's off the field or on the field. It matters before a win, after a win, before a loss, and after a loss, in all sports," Vartak said.
"Whether my late arrival was a factor or not, I cannot comment on it. There was a delay in my visa arrival. Everyone --IOA, SAI, and the federation -- they all tried. Arvind Yadav (physio) and I did our biometrics in June. But his came earlier and he could join the side," she added.
Deepika was leading 4-2 after winning first and third sets as she needed another victory to seal the issue, but pressure got into her and she released her second arrow with two seconds left on the clock to hit the seven-point red ring.
Nam Suhyeon was unstoppable from then on as she clinched two more sets and sealed the fixture. She eventually ended up with a silver medal, losing to her more experienced teammate Lim Sihyeon. It was another quarterfinal exit for Deepika.
Similarly, Ankita and Dhiraj had produced some splendid shooting to take the opening set from the Koreans featuring two-time Olympic team gold medallist Kim Woojin in the bronze playoff. It was Woojin's experience that finally prevailed.
The archers were also without Korean coach Baek Woongki who was declined accreditation before the start of the Games as the six-member archery team were left with only three support staff -- men's coach (Sonam Bhutia), women's coach (Purnima Mahato) and Arvind Yadav (physio).