Deepika, Dola fail to make the cut in Archery World Cup

KOLKATA: Ace archer Deepika Kumari has failed to find a berth in the Indian squad for the World Cup (Stage I) to be held in Shanghai, China from April 22-27.
In a major setback, all top women archers bowed out early in the two-day National Ranking Archery tournament (second stage) that concluded in New Delhi on Sunday which served as selection trials for the World Cup squad.
Top-seed Deepika went down to eighth-seeded Nomula Labanya of Andhra Pradesh in the very first round. The 21-year-old archer made the senior India squad for the first time after winning the ranking meet. Nomula defeated her statemate V Parinitha 6-2 in the final. Olympian Parinitha too made the cut along with Punjab's Madhu and Laxmi Rani Majhi of Railways.
Madhu too will be representing India for the first time at the senior level. Experienced Laishram Bombayla Devi and veteran Dola Banerjee too failed to make the grade. Deepika's loss of form is a cause for real concern ahead of the Asian Games slated to be held in Incheon, South Korea, in September.
There were no major upset in the men's section with all big names making the squad. After a long time the men's team will feature the tried and tested troika of Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar along with Vishwas. It's a comeback of sorts for Banerjee, who had failed to find a berth in the Indian team that took part in the Asian Grand Prix meet that concluded in Bangkok recently. The Olympian defeated Tarundeep 6-0 in the final.
"The competition was intense," Banerjee told TOI on Monday. "It was quite windy and all archers found it difficult to keep the arrows on target. Some even ended up hitting 5 or 6," he stated.
However, the Archery Association of India (AAI) is thinking of fielding Deepika, Bombayala and Dola for World Cup Stage II to be held in Medellin, Colombia in May to keep their morale up.
India's squad (for WC Stage-I)
Women's: Nomula Labanya, V Parinitha, Madhu, Laxmi Rani Majhi
Men's: Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai, Jayanta Talukdar, Vishwas.