Dola and Rahul Banerjee. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: It’s another story of ‘sibling rivalry’ — though in this case the brother-sister duo has evolved with it.

India’s current No. 1 woman archer Dola Banerjee, then 21, would practise at Baranagar Archery Club and Rahul, six years his junior, would watch her shoot. His keenness was noticed by Dola.

It was in 1996. Rahul was learning karate at that time while Dola had already made herself an integral part of the national team.

Dola’s international experience came in handy for Rahul. She would spend her own money on buying foreign equipment for Rahul. “I didn’t want to see him struggle for a good equipment like I did…,” the 27-year-old Dola said on Wednesday. The sister-cum-coach’s effort began to bear fruit soon.

Four years after joining the local club, Rahul competed in sub-junior nationals in Udaipur, bagging a silver. Soon he repeated his performance at the junior level, helping Bengal win the silver. In between, Indian coach Lim-Chae Woong was impressed with “the boy during a national camp and wanted him to join Tata Archery Academy (TAA)”, Dola recalled.

So Rahul’s next stop was at the Jamshedpur-based centre.

It was a matter of time after joining in TAA when the brother and sister duo become a regular member of India team. Dola, by the way, has been a regular in the women’s team since 1995. Accolades and medals poured in to the Ashok and Kalpana Banerjee family in Baranagar. “Being six years junior, obviously I’ve to obey my didi. It’s always an advantage to have her as my first coach…,” Rahul said.

To this, Dola added: “There has been many such occasions when he fared better than me… But I feel happy when he does well. In fact, my performance gets affected when he starts fumbling or not playing to his potential.”