Asia Cup Stage I to be Held in New Delhi: Teenage girl Gurmehar Grewal to take part in senior trials for archery tourney this month

“It was my third School National Games and I was aiming for a gold in Indore. The conditions were tough and it was windy in the evening. But my score of 308 was good for a bronze medal finish and I am happy with my first medal in the School National Games. My score could have been better. Earlier, I competed in the wooden bow category. In Indore, I competed in the recurve bow category,” said Grewal, who shot a score of 308 behind Manipur’s Seema (312) and Ridhi of Haryana (322).

The youngster started archery six years ago on the insistence of her father, Darashjit Singh Grewal, and practiced initially at her family’s farmhouse in Kaimbwala. Grewal claimed three gold medals in the Chandigarh Inter-School Archery Tournament in 2015 finishing with one gold and two silver medals last year. Grewal then shifted to recurve category in August last year and won silver in the ranking round and Olympic round in the the U-14 girls’ category in the 9th Mini Sub-Junior National Championship conducted by Cherukuri Lenin-Volga Memorial at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, in November last year.

“The medals in the Chandigarh Championships gave me confidence initially and last year, I decided to shift to recurve category after consulting my coach Anurag Kamal. I shot a score of 641/720 in Tirupati. Changing to recurve had its challenges, but I am adjusting my game. The trials for Asia Cup will be a challenge for me, but training with senior archers at Panjab University has helped my game,” said Grewal, who is a student of Strawberry Fields School, Chandigarh. South

Korean arhcer and Olympic medalist Ki Bo-Bae is her idol. Coach Anurag said competing in the trials for Asia Cup will be a confidence booster for Grewal. “She started recurve archery eight months ago and she has gained experience in a short span of time. Her strength has been her control over the bow and she has also working upon her physical fitness, which is required in recurve archery,” he said.