As the archery events of Asian Games begin in Hangzhou on Sunday, there will be a lot of hope from the Indians to fare well and give the South Koreans a fight to the podium.
And competing with the Indian recurve team will be Jamshedpur’s Mrinal Chauhan. At 20 years of age, he is the youngest in the team that comprises Dhiraj Bommadevara (22), Tushar Shelke (28) and Olympian Atanu Das, the most senior and experienced member at 32.
Speaking of competing at the continental event, Mrinal was expectedly very excited. “I’m feeling great that I’m getting a chance to represent my country at such a big stage,” the soft-spoken archer, who trains at Tata Archery Academy, told TOI. “For quite a while I have been part of the senior camp but because of certain draw backs I couldn’t make the team. But I have worked on these areas and have finally made the team this year,” he added.
It was under Dronacharya awardee Dharmendra Tiwari that Mrinal began his training at Tata Archery Training Centre in 2012 with wooden bows and arrows when he was just 10, along with his sister Madhavi who was 7. While he selected the sport because the chances of injury were less, the biggest challenge was the cost of equipment. But with his parents giving him all the support and egging him on, he has come a long way.
Not only did he win numerous medals at the junior level but has also started to finish on podiums at the senior level this year. And his biggest achievement so far has been winning a bronze medal in the team event at Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Colombia in June this year when India beat China 5-3 in the third-place playoff match.
However, the journey from Jamshedpur to Hangzhou hasn’t been easy for the son of Rajnath Chauhan and Parwati Kumari, who were inspired by Deepika Kumari’s achievements. Although they led a simple life for sustenance, things turned upside down as Covid forced them to shut their stationary shop, their sole source of income, for more than six months.
“We had to change their schools to make ends meet during the pandemic. I even had to sell some of my jewellery when Madhavi’s bow broke during that time. Mrinal, too, helped out his sister as much as possible with the financial support that he used to get,” Parwati said over the phone as she continued to look after her shop.
Things have improved for the better in recent times for them. Not only is their shop running well, Madhvi also finally got selected at Tata Archery Academy recently after having failed to so in the past couple of occasions. And in July she also took part in the World Youth Championships in Limerick, Ireland.
And to top it all off, Mrinal will be taking part at Asiad Games and they can’t wait to see him perform. “We have worked very hard to see him do well and it’s of immense pride what he has achieved. The dream now is to see him compete at the Olympics one day,” added Mrinal’s mother.
For now, Mrinal will have to keep his focus on the Asiad where he knows that the competition will be tough. “South Korea will be our toughest competitor and we will have to keep our focus and hit as many 10s as possible,” said Mrinal, who is a BA first year student at Lovely Professional University.
But even in this time of joy, Mrinal and his father couldn’t help but think of coach Dharmendra, who suffered a stroke in 2021 and has been left partially paralysed. “He helped out a lot when they first began and even taught me a few things about archery. His absence as a coach is an unimaginable loss to the sport,” added Rajnath.
Hopefully, Mrinal can make his coach as well as his parents proud with a worthy performance starting Sunday.
