A long return path for Jayanta Talukdar

They had four World Cups and the World Championships to book their ticket to Beijing. This, many thought, was easy picking, with archers like Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Rahul Banerjee in their ranks.

“Qualification for the Olympics is not a problem at all,” said the senior pro in the men’s team, Tarundeep Rai, before leaving for the World Championships in Leipzig.

“With a little bit of luck, we should qualify easily,” added the man in form at the moment, Rahul Banerjee.

These words were echoed by the top brass in the administration and also the coaches.

But at the end of it all, it was the women’s team that had the last laugh. They not only qualified for the Olympics in the team event but also went on to bag a bronze medal in the fourth World Cup at Dover. The men’s team finished a lowly 10th at the Leipzig event and never crossed the second round in any of the World Cups.

And there are plenty of reasons for it. Lack of form, injury to senior players, inexperience — all combined to leave the men’s team ill at ease.

And all through, Talukdar — the man who was touted to keep the Indian flag flying high after his remarkable performances in 2005-06 when he became the first Indian to win a World Cup gold at Porec in Croatia — just watched it from the sidelines, praying that he regains his touch so he can take aim at his long cherished dream — the Olympics in Beijing.

“No one ever thought that we won’t qualify for the team event in Leipzig,” said Talukdar, a former world No 1 who was nursing an injury on the bow arm since February. He took part in the National Ranking Tournament in Pune after a three-month sabbatical and like any other sportsman, Talukdar was a mere shadow of his former self during the first couple of tournaments after his comeback. He took time to regain his touch and by the time he found it, the sun was in setting mode.

“I was shooting 1300 and above soon after my comeback, but I was not so consistent. So others who were shooting consistently made it to the (national) team. I had thought that by the Olympic year I would have hit peak form and qualifying in the final team for Beijing wouldn’t be a problem. But everything went haywire,” added Talukdar nostalgically, recalling his team’s consistent misses during his absence.

So does he blame anybody for this debacle?

“Not at all,” was his prompt reply. “Tarun was running fever before leaving for Leipzig and Rahul did exceptionally well. Somai (Murmu) was no doubt inexperienced, but then you also need a lot of luck to succeed in these events.

“There was this occasional brilliant performance by one archer in one tournament and by another in the next, but the consistency that one needs to succeed at these levels were missing,” Talukdar said.

However, his Olympic dream has not died an immature death. Though the team qualification is out of question, now he has set his sight on the National Ranking Competition in Jamshedpur from August 16 to 19 and then the Asian Championships in Xian during September 14 to 19.

The NRC happens to be the selection trail for the Asian meet in Xian where there are two individual berths for Beijing up for grabs. And Talukdar is ready to give his pound of flesh to have one.

“That is the only hope now,” said Talukdar and added: “I have been more consistent in my shooting now and I am confident that India will have men’s representation in archery at Beijing as well.”

And after losing the individual bronze medal play-off at the Asian Games in Doha last year despite being one of the favourites, Talukdar’s hunger to succeed is even more this time. India won the team bronze at Doha, their first medal in archery at Asian Games, but an Olympic medal is what Talukdar is aiming at.