Teenage recurve archer Ridhi Phor to compete at next month's world championships in US

Teenager

Teenager Ridhi Phor will be part of the Indian women’s recurve team for next month’s World Archery Championships, scheduled to be held in the USA.

“During the lockdown, we could train at the park nearby our house in Karnal (Haryana). The local park is big enough to place a target at 70 meter distance. We were able practice in the morning as well as in the evening. Since we could train on a regular basis, it has proved beneficial,” Ridhi’s father Manoj said on her making the cut.

Komalika Bari and Ankita Bhakat are the other members of the women's team that will compete at the tournament in South Dakota from September 19 to 26.

Ridhi was part of the core group of archers preparing for the Tokyo Olympics but failed to make the three-member team for the World Cup Stage 3 held in June. The Paris World Cup was the final qualification event for the Olympics.

“Ridhi was in the core group, but couldn’t find a place in the top three. Since June, she has been training hard at home, though there are no proper facilities. We benefited from training at the local park near our house,” Manoj revealed.

The 17-year-old from Haryana made her senior international debut in 2018 at the Asia Cup in Manila and won a bronze. Since then, she has been a regular member of the national team, her father said.

The Archery Association of India (AAI) conducted trials earlier this month at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) training center in Sonepat, Haryana, to select the team for next month’s championships.

Deepika Kumari, India’s leading women archer, missed out on a berth for the world championships. She finished fourth in the selection trials.

Three male archers who represented India at the Tokyo Games, Deepika’s husband Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and seasoned Tarundeep Rai, also failed to make the cut.

After the Olympic archery event, all the four archers had to come straight from Tokyo to compete in the selection trials.

Sanjeeva Kumar Singh, Dronacharya award winner and former national coach, said young archers making inroads into the national team is a healthy sign.

“The young archers impressed at the national selection trials. A good performance at September's world championships should be one step in the right direction to build a good team for the 2022 season,” Sanjeeva added.

The national camp started last weekend. India will have men and women's teams in both recurve and compound events at the US world championships.