How Deepika Kumari transformed Atanu Das into a better archer

Premier Indian archer Atanu Das tied the knot with Deepika Kumari in June, 2020. The partnership with Kumari, the flagbearer for Indian archery, has only helped Das perform better in his discipline.

It was evident in his recent performance as Das clinched his first individual World Cup gold at the 2021 World Cup in Guatemala City. Before that, Das was consistent with his performance in the mixed team and men's team event as he clinched eight medals in these events across Asian and World level.

"She (Deepika) deserves most of the credit for my transformation," Das told PTI.

His wife Deepika, meanwhile, remains an established name on the world archery circuit. She took to archery nearly at the age of 10 and bagged double gold (team and individual) when she was merely 15 at the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG).

It is her performances that have always had a huge impact on Das. Deepika stood like a backbone and always inspired him to perform better.

"Seeing her perform best at the highest level, sometimes, I would get mentally depressed to cope up. I would keep working hard and ask myself 'when would my turn come?'" he said.

"I would feel bad that I'm not able to match her standards till now. Deepika would get really angry the moment she would see me upset.

"She would always say 'mera time pehle aaya hain, tere baad mein aayega (I peaked earlier, your time will also come)....You just keep working hard," Das added.

The 2019 Asian Championships bronze medallist also takes a lot of inspiration from his wife Deepika's never-say-die attitude towards her goal.

As a result of her mindset, Kumari rose to the top rank at 18 and won several medals at the continental and world level.

“I try and learn from her ‘thhan liya toh karenge hi (if I’ve made up my mind, I must do it)’ attitude,” Das told Hindustan Times.

However, the bond between Atanu and Deepika took time to grow. The archery couple were first batch mates at the Tata Academy in 2008. And by the time they got married, it was already 12 years of knowing each other.

Having Deepika by his side has helped him better himself and that has been evident in his recent performances (update with Tokyo performance).

When is Atanu Das in action at Tokyo 2020 next?

Das began his campaign at Tokyo 2020 with the ranking round in the men's individual recurve event, where he finished on the 35th spot.

He will be in action on 29 July in the Round of 32 against Deng Yu-cheng of Chinese Taipei.

He was also a part of the Indian men's recurve team which reached the quarter-final of the team event.