New Delhi: India's 'baby' archer Deepika Kumari on Sunday made a giant leap to stardom, claiming the gold medal in the women's recurve individual event at the Commonwealth Games here.
On a day when India's most experienced Dola Banerjee had to settle for bronze, the 17-year-old Ranchi girl maintained her cool composure and defied the windy conditions at the Yamuna Sports Complex to thrash Olympic bronze medallist Alison Wiliamson in straight sets (6-0) for the yellow metal.
This was India's second gold in archery after the women's trio of Deepika, Dola and Bombayala Devi Laishram won the gold in the recurve team event.
Double Olympian and winner of 2007 World Cup finals Dola went down to Athens bronze medallist Williamson 2-6, while Deepika beat Anbarasi Subramaniam of Malaysia 7-1 in the semifinals.
In the bronze medal play-off, Dola got the better of Subramaniam of Malaysia 6-2.
"The wind was blowing from right to left very strongly, something that did Dola in. I asked Deepika to maintain her cool and not to get disturbed by the wind factor. She did just that. I am so happy for her," women's team coach Poornima Mahato said.
Daughter of an autorickshaw driver, Deepika is the reigning cadet world champion and she recently won a silver medal at the World Cup stage 4 held in Shanghai last month, a performance that enabled her qualify for the coveted World Cup finals in Edinburgh.
In Sunday's final, an unruffled Deepika shot 10-9-8 to win the first set 2-0 by a slender one-point margin that put pressure on Williamson.
With the crowd cheering 'come on Deepika... jai ho' for the Indian, the pressure was evident on the veteran 29-year-old Englishwoman as she managed 8-9-8 compared to Deepika's 9-10-9 to lose the second set by three points.
Leading 4-0, Deepika was at her best in the third set as she shot three perfect 10s to clinch the issue. Williamson could only manage 9-8-7 to go down 0-6.
Crediting her parents, coaches (Poornima and Dharmendra Tiwari) at the Tata Archery Academy, for her triumph, Deepika said, "I am over the moon. I am thankful to my parents, coaches who have supported throughout."
"I just focussed on not to lose hope and concentrate on my shooting. I was hopeful to win this medal. I just wanted to be more confident," he said.
Asked about her Olympic bronze medallist opponent, Deepika said, "She is very experienced. Sometimes you win the game with experience and at other times by what you do during the game."
Deepika now has her eyes on the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou, China, next month.
"I'll start practising for the Asian Games and do well there and I'll do my best to qualify for the Olympics."
Deepika considers 'Dola didi' as her sporting idol in archery and said she was really disappointed at the veteran archer's loss in the semifinals.
"I felt bad that she could not compete in the finals. She is my senior and she keeps advising me and telling me how to hit a shot. I wanted to play against her in the finals but it didn't happen," she said.
Eldest among three children, Deepika's father Shiv Narayan Mahato drives an autorickshaw while mother Geeta works as a nurse in Ranchi Government Hospital.
Dola blamed the wind factor for her loss to Williamson in the semifinals.
"The wind is creating a lot of confusion as it is blowing very hard today," she said.
"I was aiming at the right point but still it did not go my way. My shooting was good but the wind made my shots go here and there. The wind now is much stronger than earlier in the morning," Dola added.
In the biggest disappointment of the morning, Dola lost a 2-0 lead in the first set as Williamson fought back to clinch 6-2.
Dola shot 27 in the first set as Williamson managed 24 but the 2004 bronze medallist fought back with a brilliant 28 in the second set and bring the match on a 2-2 even keel.
Dola then managed 24 in the second set.
With a strong wind affecting the duo, the third set was a low-scoring affair as Williamson won by a slender one point to edge past Dola 4-2.
Williamson did not give a chance in the third set as she shot 27 to win the encounter.
Dola, however, ensured a bronze for the country when she erased a first-set deficit to win 6-2 over Subramaniam.
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