May Lord's bless us: Tarundeep Rai
The hallowed Lord's will host the archery competition during the Olympics and Indian ace Tarundeep Rai hopes the 'Mecca of cricket' would bless the Indian archers as they eye their first medal at London Games.
The hallowed Lord's will host the archery competition during the Olympics and Indian ace Tarundeep Rai hopes the 'Mecca of cricket' would bless the Indian archers as they eye their first medal at London Games.
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"The Lord's have been lucky for India in the past, we won the World Cup cricket in 1983 and I hope that Lord's bless us and we win a medal this time," Tarundeep said.
The 28-year-old feels Indian archery team is better prepared and hungrier than ever to win a medal.
"We are focused and in a better position to win a medal than the last time. Jayant (Talukdar) and Rahul (Banerjee) have done well and we are hungry for a medal and will definitely get one this time," Tarundeep said.
A junior member at the Athens 2004, Tarundeep helped the men's archery team to secure its Olympic berth in the qualifiers held during World Cup Stage III in Ogden last month.
The archer from Sikkim said he is more experienced now and he would look to rectify his mistakes.
"When I played at Athens, it was just my third international event so naturally I had no experience. This time, I have experience on my side and I would ensure I don't repeat the mistakes this time," said Tarundeep, who finished 32nd in individual and 11th in the team at Athens.
"Compared to last time, we are better prepared and we also had more exposure this time to prepare for the Games. Technically we are at par with the world. But it is a combination of mental and technical.
"Earlier, we didn't have a psychologist but this time we had a proper mental training for the Games and I hope there would be no let up this time," he added.
Tarundeep was out of action for around two years after suffering a career-threatening shoulder injury. He had to struggle for a place in the team but he made a fine comeback at the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010, clinching an individual silver and team bronze.
The Indian archers will leave tomorrow for London, where they will have a 10-day training at Lord's.