Khelo India Youth Games: Chandigarh boy becomes champion in boys’ U-17 recurve archery

Prior to the final, Kumar scored a 6-4 win over Sagar Sharma of Haryana in the semi-finals. In the quarter-finals, Kumar scored a 6-4 win over Amit Kumar of Madhya Pradesh. Last year, Kumar had won two silver medals in the SGFI Nationals held at Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. The youngster claimed a silver medal in the individual recurve event, where he lost to Arjun Singh of Rajasthan, apart from winning a silver medal overall. Before the SGFI nationals, Kumar had won two bronze medals in the CBSE Nationals. “The bronze medals in CBSE Nationals at Sangrur helped me believe that I can win in the nationals. Winning the silver medal in SGFI Nationals was a big morale booster for me and I was targeting a podium finish at the Khelo India Youth Games. Both my wins in semi-finals and final respectively came against Haryana archers, who were much more experienced than me. My aim is to book a place in the Indian junior team,” Kumar said.

Coach Anurag Kamal rates the youngster highly and sees the 2022 Youth Olympic games as the next target for the youngster. “When he started archery, his driver was his mental strength and he improved his physical strength a lot in the coming months. The medal will give him a huge boost. We are hopeful that he will be selected for the South Asian Archery Championships later this year, if the team is announced. With the right exposure, Divyansh can make it to the Indian team for 2020 Youth Olympic Games and win a medal for the country,” the coach said.