Deepika Kumari - A hero in the making
Life
Born on 13 Jun 1994 in Jharkhand in Ratu Chati village, to an auto-rickshaw driver and a nurse, Deepika Kumari soon proved to be a blessing to the couple. At that time the couple would have had no idea that their little daughter would grow up to become one of their country's topmost archers.
Deepika started showing her inborn skills at a very tender age. As a child she used to rightly aim at the mangoes on the trees. As her mother recounts she never missed a single throw. When she decided to take up archery as her career for the rest of her life her family stood against her decision. As it was a career choice that was not in the mainstream her father wished she concentrate on academics. But none could stop the budding archer in her and her passion gave her the strength. She used to practice using bamboo made bows and arrows. It was then that her cousin Vidya Kumari also an archer saw her talent and guided her to take the step ahead. Once she achieved accomplishments for the country she got many offers at hand. She was later signed as manager by a company major which also looks up her training in the sport. Her father who had a meagre income of only eight thousand per month had struggled a lot in the learning times of her daughter to buy the sport equipment for her. A shy simple girl by nature Deepika's life changed after she won accolades at the National and International Level archery. At the age of eighteen she was on of the youngest sportsperson to represent India in the London Olympics 2012. She completed her schooling from a private school in Ranchi and is awaiting her class 12 results.
Career
Being born in a poor family with little to spend she found it extremely difficult to bear the expenses of her training. Help came her way when she joined the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur in 2006 where she started the real practice with the aid of the proper equipments and training along with a stipend. With the training and her best efforts her first laurel was the cadet World Championship title in November 2009 at the age of 15. There was no stopping after that she she shined with a silver medal at the 2010 World Cuo stage 4 in Shanghai.
Her biggest achievement came when she made the Nation proud by winning a gold in the individual category and another gold in the team category. She further went on to win two silver medals at the World Cup stage 2 in Antalya in June 2011. A month later at World Championship in Turin she along with her team mates Laishram Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro won the silver medal and booked three quotas berths for the London Olympics 2012. In August 2011, Deepika returned home gladly with a hat trick of silver medals. She did India proud by winning the World Youth Championship in Legnica in the junior category, where she also won a bronze with her team. Finally at the last stage of World Cup in Shanghai, the bright archer added individual bronze and the team gold to her fast growing medal collection. Her greatest accomplishment at the senior level came when she won a silver at the World Cup Final in May 2012 making her the World Number 1 Archer.
With a dream of an Olympic medal in her eyes she told a newspaper "I can't express what an Olympic medal means to me, its my dream, my life." Though she failed to bring a medal this Olympics but this teenager is a big asset to our country and a role model for many. She is big hope of India in the sports arena.
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.