The teen reads out a text message that her senior Indian archer and mixed recurve teammate sent her during the Asian Games.
For Kumkum Mohod, “Dhiraj bhaiya” — Dhiraj Bommadevara to the world — is a big inspiration.
“Initially, in Japan, I got a bit nervous. “But after coming to India, I feel so good and proud. Now, people are asking me for photos with them. Indians are also learning the art of beating the Koreans in recurve archery. The women’s team has defeated the powerhouses twice this year, at the Shanghai World Cup and the Asian Games. Kumkum was part of both teams.
I had not faced so many people from the media before,” Kumkum said with a chuckle.
Earlier, it would be me asking someone for a photo.
She did meet Deepika Kumari and other senior Indian archers at the ongoing Archery Premier League in Hyderabad. “Deepika didi has been competing for so many years, but she still works as hard with the same passion and discipline. I am learning that from her.”
The only time Kumkum spoke like a 17-year-old through a 45-minute chat was when she expressed her wish to meet Virat Kohli (“I admire his discipline”). “They congratulated me, and told me to focus on the road ahead and on LA (Olympics),” said Kumkum.
Because everyone keeps saying, ‘Korea, Korea’, “Beating the Koreans was important,. Photos of Kumkum standing at the top of the podium, with a tear and a smile, as the country’s first recurve Asian Games champion will be etched in Indian archery’s history. So will photos of the Indian women’s team, all laughs and glee, standing with gold medals around their necks over those grim-looking South Koreans. Also add photos of the youngster with her idol as the mixed team silver medallists. In that pressure-cooker one-shot winner-takes-all moment, Kumkum’s heartbeat shot up. We had to erase that record once and for all.
“I visualise everything,” Kumkum said on Friday in an interaction facilitated by SAI Which she did, all that manifestation turning all too real with the shoot-off win against Korea’s Oh Yejin. “I focussed on my breathing, relaxed, and told myself: I can do it, just shoot, no matter what happens. Going ahead, I believe this performance will only help Indian archers do even better,” she said.
