5 Things About Ace Archer Deepika Kumari On Her 23rd Birthday
On her 23rd birthday, here’s everything you need to know about Deepika Kumari.
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A former world number 1, Deepika Kumari has also been India’s highest ranked recurve archer – among women and men. On the occasion of her 23rd Birthday, here’s taking a look all that makes this young achiever so special.
1. Beginnings
Born to an auto-rickshaw driver and a nurse in Jharkhand, Deepika broke into the international scene with two gold medals at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. She was just 16.
She slowly climbed up the rankings with steady performances, and in 2012 bagged the world number 1 ranking. The ace archer entered the 2012 London Olympics as the top seed but was defeated in the first round itself. Nerves and wind, she said.
2. Road to Rio
In April 2016, Deepika shot a a world record-equalling total in the women’s recurve event of the Archery World Cup in Shanghai. With a score of 686 in the 72-arrow ranking round, she equalled the earlier score set by London Olympics gold-medallist Ki Bo Bae of Korea.
In the Women’s Individual category at Rio, the Indian archer went down in the 1/8 Eliminations round after losing 27-28, 26-29, 27-30 at the Sambodromo arena.
Kumari with Laxmirani Majhi and Bombayla Devi lost the team event quarters 23-25 in the shootout against Russia.
3. Medals
Currently ranked eleventh in the world, Deepika has to her credit 3 individual World Cup silvers, won in 2011(Istanbul), 2012(Tokyo), Shanghai(2013).
She has also won two World Championship silvers in the women’s team event from 2011(Torino) and 2015(Copenhagen)
4. Awards
In her short career so far, Deepika Kumari has already won India’s highest sporting honor - the Arjuna Award, in 2012. She was also given the Padma Shri this year.
5. Star Trivia
Deepika enlisted in the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur in 2006, where she was granted a Rs 500 stipend. Training day in and out, the 11-year-old refused to go home for three years, till she won her first big junior level title – the Cadet World Championship’s gold in 2009.
(This article is being republished from The Quint’s archives on the occasion of Deepika Kumar’s 23rd birthday. It was originally published on 13 June 2016.)
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