Who is Komalika Bari: Five things to know about the promising Indian archer

Komalika Bari has continued her emergence as one of the most promising young prospects from India in women's recurve archery. On Thursday, she gave another glimpse of her talent by securing a medal for India in the Youth World Championships in Wroclaw.

The reigning U18 champion moved into the final of the individual event, scripting a stunning comeback against Olympian Casey Kaufhold 6-4 (28-27, 25-28, 28-26, 25-30, 29-25) after dropping two sets early in the semi-finals.

Bari will take on Elia Canales of Spain in the final on August 15. But ahead of that let us know a bit more about her rise to prominence:

Inspired by her cousin brother and mother

Bari picked up the bow and arrow for the first time at the age of 12. She followed the footsteps of her cousin brother to take up the sport and was supported by her mother in the journey. Her mother, an anganwadi (a rural child care centre in India) worker, knew a local archery coach in Birsanagar and promptly took her to him so that she could get a grip on the sport.

Started training with 'bamboo bows'

It was in 2012 that Bari began to learn the ropes of archery but was met with early challenges. Her family was not able to afford even a bow for her practice in the initial days and as a result, she took aid of make-shift bows made up of bamboo during her initial training.

Cycled 18 kms to chase her dreams

Four years after she began her training, Bari entered the Tata Archery Academy (TAA) in Jamshedpur -- home to Olympians like Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das -- and began training under coaches Dharmendra Tiwari and Purnima Mahato.

But the journey to the premier archery academy in India was not easy for her as she had to cycle 18kms daily to reach her destination from her Birsanagar-based home.

It was at TAA, under the guidance of coaches Dharmendra Tiwari and Purnima Mahato, that she started to showcase her talent.

"After coming to the TAA, I focused on my shooting. I learnt a lot working alongside the elite archers. I got to know how to maintain calmness, patience and how to handle different situations," Bari told Sportstar.

Second Indian to become recurve cadet World Champion

Within three years of training at TAA, Bari would clinch a gold medal in Women’s Cadet Recurve category in the World Archery Youth & Cadet Championship 2019.

Bari defeated Waka Sonoda of Japan by 7-3 in the finals to clinch the gold medal. It also made her the only second Indian after ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari to achieve the feat.

Fast-tracked to the senior team

Her steady progress meant that she was fast-tracked to the Indian senior team at just 18 years of age. She was also a part of the women's core group for the Olympic Test events ahead of Tokyo 2020.

However, Bari alongside Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat had failed to qualify for the women's recurve archery team event for Tokyo 2020, after being outclassed by Colombia in the Round of 16 of the final Olympic qualifier in Paris.

But that has not stopped her from continuing to establish herself as one of the premier archers in the country.