Archery
Lost equipment in train fire — archers won 3 medals the next day
After escaping death from the burning coach of the New Delhi-Dehradun Shatabdi Express, Madhya Pradesh archers win medals in Junior Nationals.
Amit Kumar and Sonia Thakur (Source: Twitter/@yashodhararaje)
It was just on Saturday, archers from Madhya Pradesh archery team miraculously escaped death and from the burning coach of the New Delhi-Dehradun Shatabdi Express on their way to Dehradun. They even lost all their equipment in the fire of the ablaze C-5 bogey. However, on Sunday, the same archers pulled off another miracle by winning three medals at the 41st Junior National Championship.
The MP archers, who were given counsel and new equipment and gear on an emergency basis, defied all odds showed their mettle to shine at the tournament. In the girls' category recurve event of the competition, Sonia Thakur won a silver medal by scoring 642 points. Jharkhand stood first with 661 points and Haryana stood third with 634 points. In boys' category recurve event, Amit Kumar scored 665 points and won bronze medal for the State.
Andhra Pradesh stood first with 683 points and Maharashtra with 673 points was third. Similarly, in the recurve mixed team event, duo of players Sonia Thakur and Amit Kumar pair won a silver medal for Madhya Pradesh. Jharkhand stood first and Punjab was third in this event.
Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia said that by the grace of God all our players are safe. By winning medals at this championship, players have proved that success can be achieved with patience and restraint even in testing times. The State Sports Minister congratulated medal winners and said that our players have brought glory to Madhya Pradesh. Director, Sports and Youth Welfare, Pawan Jain said that despite all odds, players of Madhya Pradesh State Archery Academy won medals using new equipment; this should act as motivation for other players in the State.
The biggest challenge for the team was to arrange new equipment at such short notice. Scindia directed the officials to provide all necessary equipment to the archers.
In an interview with The Times of India, MP team chief coach Ricchpal Singh said, "There was only a night before the event. We got the equipment, but they were to be adjusted as it was new for the archers. The coaching staff and archers sat the whole night to tune and familiarize with the equipment."
