The Hindu : Sport : Indian women triumph at Lord’s

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Wednesday, Aug 08, 2007
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Sport

Indian women triumph at Lord’s

Special Correspondent

A moment to cherish, says Dola Banerjee

— PHOTO: AFP

PROUD MOMENT: The Indian team led by Dola Banerjee (left) celebrates its triumph.

KOLKATA: What the Indian cricket team could not achieve at Lord’s last month, Indian women archers, led by Dover World Cup gold medallist Dola Banerjee, Chekrovolu Swuro and Laishram Bombayla Devi, did, beating England, that too by a handsome margin on Monday.

The Indian trio first beat England, comprising Olympian Alison Williamson, Naomi Folkard and Charlotte Burgess by 221 points to 216 and followed it up with a win over China (219-209). China outplayed England 219-209 to take the second spot.

Venue for the Games

The npower International Archery Challenge for the MCC Cup was organised by the Grand National Archery Society (GNAS) which runs the sport in Great Britain. This tournament, first of many trial meets, was organised by the GNAS as part of the London Olympics in 2012. Lord’s will be the archery venue during the Olympics.

Curiously, history was created on two counts. The first was the fall of the predominantly cricket bastion for other sport in 220 years and secondly the presence of Chinese at Lord’s!

The MCC’s secretary and chief executive, Keith Bradshaw, was quoted as saying, “I’m delighted that we will be staging the genuinely historic sporting contest. It will be particularly exciting to welcome Chinese competitors at Lord’s for the first time.”

Meanwhile, the Indian men were not as lucky. The threesome of Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Somai Murmu, went down to England, consisting of Larry Godfrey, Simon Terry and Alan Wills, 207-219. England crushed China 219-200 to lift the cup.

Overjoyed by her experience of not only stepping onto Lord’s turf but also helping India emerge the winner at the historic venue, Dola said the wind proved to be a greater challenge because of the closed ground. “The wind was blowing from different sides making it difficult to hit the bull’s eye. It took all of us a while to get adjusted,” she said on landing at Mumbai on Tuesday.

On her arrival at the Dum Dum airport in Mumbai, Dola Banerjee was accorded a warm welcome. The 26-year-old, accompanied by her younger brother Rahul, was felicitated by many including the Sports Authority of India Regional Director, V.V.S.N. Rao.

Dola said the most defining moment for her came when the Indian flag was hoisted at Lord’s after the Indian women’s team won the MCC Cup.

Another chance

Interestingly, these three archers ensured berths for India at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 while the men, who failed to get them at the Leipzig World championship, will make an attempt during the Asian championship in November.

On her experience of playing at Lord’s, Dola said it was a moment for her to cherish. “I was humbled by the venue and the ambiance. Now I know what it means to score a century at Lord’s,” she added.

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