NEW DELHI: The Indians have done reasonably well at the Asian and world level tournaments and, with a pinch of luck, there is no reason why they cannot return with a medal from the Beijing Olympic Games as well, reckons country's top woman archer Dola Banerjee.
Dola admits luck would play a crucial role when she and her teammates turn up at Beijing's Olympic Green Archery Field but the double World Cup gold medallist believes they would go there with reasonable chances of winning a medal.
"There is no reason why we cannot. There is no dearth of talent and we have done really well in the Asian and World level tournaments. So I feel chances are high," Dola said from Kolkata.
The Arjuna awardee said more than the opponents, everything would depend on how she fares on that particular day.
"Russia, Korea, China, Italy -- they all are very tough competitors. However, it depends on that particular day, that moment. One bad shot can badly hurt you, besides boosting the confidence of your opponents. Even a low ranking player can
upset high rankers.
"Skill, a little bit of luck and you can win a medal," she said.
And technically too, Indians are not inferiors anymore, she asserted.
"We don't lag behind in technique or quality of arrows or training. Our Korean coach (Lim Chae-Woong) is really very experienced and helps us analyse our game and gives proper tips and feedbacks," she said.
Despite her optimism, her recent form, however, remains a worry for Dola, who qualified for the Olympics in the World Outdoor Archery Championship in Leipzig last year.
"I am a little worried about my form, especially because it is the Olympics year and I have not done well in the recent World Cup in Turkey. But I am practising hard and I am confident to overcome this phase and get back to my winning streak," Dola said.
"There is no major international event before the Olympics, so I am concentrating on the selection trials and the training sessions at the Salt Lake stadium. I hope to pick up at the right moment," she said.
Aware that a billion hopes would rest on her shoulders, Dola said she would try not to think about people's expectation, otherwise it would affect her performance.
"Any big event invites pressure and this being Olympics, it would be even more. Keeping your cool will be the key. My strategy would be not to think about what people say and put my best foot forward," she said.
Though her crammed training schedule is keeping her busy these days, Dola rued she could not attend any special training abroad.
"You need at least a one month training session abroad but I don't have enough time and going for a 15-day stint does not help much."
Talking about archery, Dola, who represented India in the 2004 Athens Olympics, rued that not enough women archers are taking up the game.
"Every year we get around 10-15 new men archers but in comparison, few girls come forward. It's important for girls to take up the game or else it will create a void which would be difficult to fill in," she said.
