Archers Atanu Das, Deepika Kumari dropped from TOPS program
Jan 20, 2022
New Delhi [India], January 20 : Archers Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari have been dropped from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), Sports Authority of India (SAI) confirmed on Thursday.
Last month, the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) had decided to review the TOPS support for recurve archers Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das after the National Ranking Archery Tournament in Hyderabad from January 1 to 10.
Considering their below-par performances in the event, MOC decided to not include them in the TOPS list for now.
"I appreciate that SAI officials informed me before the MOC meeting itself that there was a possibility of my being excluded from the TOP Scheme. I will be motivated to return with good scores in the competitions ahead," Deepika Kumari said in an official release.
Atanu Das echoed her thoughts. "We were very disturbed that we could not get the results we wanted in the Olympic Games. And we took a break from competitive archery after the Olympic Games. I know it is a matter of time before we find the form and get back to where we belong," he said.
Aware of their immense contribution to raising the profile of archery in the country over the past decade a half, MOC members, SAI officials, and Archery Association of India officials reached out and shared the decision with them.
