ARCHERY | Deepika and Atanu go back to the drawing board with new coach Rahul

Coach Rahul Banerjee with Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das at the 44th National Archery Championship at Jamshedpur on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU

Nurturing the dream of winning an Olympic medal in Los Angeles 2028, the Olympian archer duo of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das have roped in former international archer Rahul Banerjee as their coach.

Deepika has competed in four Olympics and Atanu has featured in two, though without any success.

Even though both belong to Kolkata, Atanu understood Rahul’s coaching philosophy only recently. “I and Rahul bhai were commentating during the Olympics, when we discussed a few things. I liked his ideas, and we started working (in August). Then Deepika joined,” Atanu told The Hindu at the National archery championships here.

Atanu Das at the 44th National Archery Championship at Jamshedpur on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
R. RAGU

“We are approaching the sport with a different mindset. We are doing gap analysis and pushing ourselves against different challenges. The hunger and dream to win an Olympic medal has not diminished,” said Atanu.

Deepika added, “Rahul bhai has identified mistakes which others could not. It’s a good start, and I am enjoying it. I could not win an Olympics medal due to my mistakes.”

Deepika Kumari at the 44th National Archery Championship at Jamshedpur on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
R. RAGU

A medallist in elite international events, Rahul, the younger brother of decorated archer Dola Banerjee, could relate to Deepika-Atanu’s hunger. “We had similar thoughts. I have won medals almost everywhere except for the Olympics,” said Rahul, who runs a fully-equipped facility, DRB Academy, jointly with Dola, in Kolkata.

“There were multiple pieces of advice. For example, Deepika has this issue of ‘let-down’ (drawing the bowstring but not being able to complete the shot) during ranking rounds. It leads to hurrying everything to finish within the stipulated time. We have sorted out her ‘blinking’ issue. Atanu had an issue with his left hand.

“The training prepares them well so that they don’t feel the pressure at the Olympics. There was a gap, and I am bridging that gap. This is the first trial of what we have done so far,” said Rahul.