Komalika eyes Asian Games comeback with sheer hard work

Grinding it out is the only way forward, and out-of-favour Indian archer Komalika Bari has learnt it the hard way.

Once seen as the next big thing in Indian archery after Deepika Kumari, the 24-year-old has slipped to a lowly 498 in world rankings and is currently out of the national team since 2024.

From a career-best rank of 51 in September 2022, it has been a steep fall. But Komalika is not giving up.With a packed season ahead, culminating in the Asian Games in Japan later this year, she is hoping to fight her way back and revive her 2028 LA Olympics dream.

“I am currently in the Top 16 (among Indians) and part of the training camp and I am preparing seriously for the Asian Games selection,” Komalika told SAI Media on the sidelines of the inaugural Khelo India Triba Games here.

“I am also looking to participate in as many competitions to gain experience while maintaining our training schedule.” Her journey had once mirrored that of the five-time Olympian and former world number 1 Deepika Kumari.

In 2021, she won the under-21 World Championship in Wroclaw, beating Spain’s Elia Canales 7-3, two years after clinching the under-18 title in Madrid, to follow the footsteps of her state mate Deepika’s rare double.

Komalika went on to be part of India’s gold medal-winning teams at the World Cups in Guatemala City and Paris in 2021, and also bagged a team bronze in Gwangju in 2022 and was coached by Deepika’s coach Poornima Mahato.

But since those early highs, things have not gone her way. She has struggled to keep pace.