World famous archery coach Kim Hyung Tak feels consistency in training and preparation will help India secure their first-ever Olympic medal in archery at Paris 2024. The Korean, with more than 40 years of coaching experience at various levels, conducted a coaches’ seminar at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Sonepat, Haryana. More than 30 coaches attended.

“The Indian recurve team is undergoing very strong technical training. There is also good communication happening all the time between the archers and the coaches. This will definitely help get good results in the Olympics. By keeping this consistency in training and preparation, I think it is very much possible to get a medal in Paris,” Kim told SAI Media in an exclusive chat.

So far, only Dhiraj Bommadevara has won a Paris 2024 quota place for India in archery. The Indian recurve archers are currently striving for a team quota in the final qualification tournament this June 14 to 17 in Antalya, Turkey. The mood in the Indian camp is upbeat after Bommadevara, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav shocked reigning Olympic champions South Korea to clinch a historic World Cup gold after 14 years in Shanghai on April 28.

“The average level of the team has got a notch higher because of the talented men’s and women’s recurve team here. The frequent coaching camps by Sports Authority of India and Archery Association of India too are contributing to the cause and constant collaboration is only helping the team get that elusive medal at the Olympics,” said Kim Hyung Tak, who in 1984 led the Korean women’s recurve team to its first Olympic gold at the Los Angeles Games.

Kim, the research director of the Korean Archery Association and Taiwan’s former head coach, also supervised a two-day national team preparation camp at Sonepat. The SAI-AAI camp was funded by National Thermal Power Corporation under its CSR programme. NTPC has pledged Rs 115 Crores over a period of five years for Indian archery.

Elaborating why he foresees a good future for Indian archery, Kim, who had trained over 500 archers from 30 nations, said, “There are many young archers and this is only good for the future of Indian archery. The experienced heads like Deepika (Kumari), Tarundeep are guiding the young archers. This helps a lot in team building and this is very important in the build up to the Paris Games.” Kim has had a special session with three-time Olympian Deepika, who is aiming to make it to Paris 2024 on the back of some strong performances after motherhood.

Kim praised the coaching programme at SAI, Sonepat. The NCOE has delivered consistent results in recent times with Indian archers winning more than 100 international medals last season.

“Since I’ve come here, I’ve seen more high level and detailed training provided to the archers. The training programs, which use a lot of technology, are also very well crafted. The coaches are continuously mentoring the archers on managing training schedules to training times. The psychology team is also working around the clock and good mentoring is being provided as a whole,” Kim said.