Asian Games: Tarundeep Rai rewrites Indian archery history

It was not the final which the Indian archer Tarundeep Rai was worried about playing on Thursday. His key contest in the individual event was in the pre-quarterfinal against Malaysia’s Chang Su Chin. Having lost to the Malaysian archer at the Commonwealth Games, Rai was struggling to find confidence going into the battle against Chang here.

To his credit, Rai found the will to steady his nerves and avenged his CWG defeat 6-2. His bogeyman and mental block conquered, there was no looking back from there on.

“The most challenging match was against Chang. I was under severe pressure taking him on in the pre-quarters. He had defeated me in New Delhi and I was not confident that I would be able to beat him here. Once I managed to do that, my confidence lifted sky high. My arrows started hitting perfect 10s,” Rai said.

The 27-year-old Rai provided the silver lining to India’s campaign on Wednesday as he became the first archer from the countryto win a medal in the men’s individual event.

In a closely-fought contest, the Indian archer lost the final to the world record holder Woojin Kim of South Korea 28-28 27-28 29-28 27-28 27-29 to turn out to be India’s hero of the day with his silver medal feat.

Rai gave a vital lead to his South Korean opponent in the last set as he shot an eight pointer in his first attempt.

And even though the Indian made amends in the next two attempts each by scoring nine points, those did not prove enough to halt the Korean.

“I dedicate this medal to the entire team who supported me. My parents back home in Sikkim are feeling very proud of the silver medal,” he said.

The other Indian in the fray, Rahul Banerjee failed to make it to the quarterfinals.

Rai entered the gold medal match by easily overcoming Chinese Taipei’s Chia Chun Sung 7-3 in the semifinal.