Ranchi: Tie in third round. A sudden gust of wind in the fourth and final round. The upshot, a just-missed archery gold.
Still, it was a starry silver birthday for Jharkhand archer Madhumita Kumari on Tuesday. Part of the three-member Indian team to Asian Games in Jakarta, Madhumita turned 21 on Wednesday, the day she, Muskan Kirar and Jyothi Surekha Vennam won silver for India in women's compound archery in an electrifying combat against South Korea.
Silver was a foregone conclusion as India was in the final. But, after nerve-wracking four rounds, where both teams did not give an inch, the score stood 231-228. India, which started out with a lead of 2 points in the first set, went back 2 notches in the second and tied in the third, had fallen back by 3 points in the fourth and had to settle for silver.
Still, a silver lining was no small feat. Madhumita happens to be the only compound archer in the state to win a silver in Asiad. At Silli's Birsa Munda Archery Academy, patronised by former deputy CM Sudesh Mahto and his wife Neha, where Ramgarh's West Bokaro girl Madhumita trained for over a decade, crackers burst amid cheers. Chief minister Raghubar Das announced a Rs 10 lakh reward for Madhumita, calling her an inspiration for youngsters. Governor Droupadi Murmu sent her congratulations.
Amid the adulation, Madhumita stayed grounded, the missed gold prickling her. When this correspondent, who watched the final at Madhumita's Silli academy with her fellow cadets and coach, called her up at Jakarta to congratulate her after the medal ceremony, she said, "But a gold is a gold sir!"
Humility and honesty seemed to be this girl's hallmarks.
"At the last moment in the fourth set, I couldn't take proper aim due to sudden wind. In compound category, there isn't much liberty to take time for adjustments and one has to shoot more in less time. Jyothi (her team mate from Vijaywada) has been bang on target right from the start. I must admit that we (she and Jabalpur's Muskan) under-performed in bits. In a team game, if one person fizzles out somewhere, the other two can make up. But if two persons lose points..." her voice trailed off.
But her fighting spirit returned soon. "My gold hunt will continue," she said.
Simpi Kumari, 19, Madhumita's room mate at the academy and at the forefront of the birthday girl's cake cutting ceremony, said it was great that "didi" became an international star on this day. "I spoke to her in the morning to wish her, and said didi gold lena hai. She said, pucca. But never mind. Silver is good too," said Simpi Kumari, who received a President's medal for archery in 2013 for winning five national gold medals on the trot at age 14.
It is evident Simpi admires Madhumita. "Here, several cadets have played national, international meets, but didi (Madhumita) is better than all of us. Not just on the field, but off it too. Whenever she is here, she ensures that none of us litter anything. She is also very helpful."
"When scores were tied (at third round), we were sure of gold. But koi nai (never mind). Next time, I will get it," chuckled 18 year old Kalyani Kumari, whose right leg has polio but who won silver in senior nationals at Hyderabad and Haryana in 2016 and 2017.
Even as cadets watched the keenly contested final at the TV room, coach Prakash, who's been training Madhumita since 2007, paced up and down the lawns. "I always feel nervous when my cadet plays. I don't watch the game live," he said, adding Madhumita called him up before heading to the arena for warm-up at 9am.
After the game, Madhumita made the first call to him. "She sounded low and said she tried her best. I only said well done," he said. He added he was happy the way compound archery was shaping up in the international arena. "Last Asiad, Indian girls won bronze. This time it is silver. It's progress," he said.
Back at Madhumita's home in Ramgarh (West Bokaro), her father Jitendra Narayan Singh, a worker at Tata Steel colliery mines was jubilant. "I don't know about archery. But Madhumita has made us famous," he said.
