Young budding archers from Kharsawan interiors on Friday wished Deepika Kumari and the Indian men’s team of Tarundeep Rai, Atanu Das and Pravin Jadhav, luck for the Olympic Games starting in Tokyo, Japan next month.

The archers, in the 8-12 age group, were part of a signature campaign held in the presence of Jharkhand Archery Association (JAA) president and Union tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda at Damadiri ground in Kharsawan.

Munda, who felicitated Komalika Bari and Ankita Bhakat for bagging women’s recurve team gold in the recently concluded World Cup Stage 3 in Paris, was impressed with the craze shown for Deepika by the budding archers. He also honoured Purnima Mahto, coach of the team in Paris, during the event organised by Seraikela-Kharsawan District Archery Association (SKDAA).

Coaches, archers and functionaries of the district archery outfit were present on the occasion.

The budding archers, who hone their skills at Damadiri ground, idolise Deepika who picked the nuances of archery at a cradle run by SKDAA in Kharsawan, the erstwhile princely town, 37 km from Jamshedpur, in 2005 before heading to the elite Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur.

Deepika, the world number one archer who claimed three gold medals in Paris, is the only woman archer to have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. She will compete in the individual recurve round.

Munda who also heads the Archery Association of India and is the chief patron of SKDAA, heaped praise on Komalika and Ankita for the achievement and said both have made the country and Jharkhand proud by their exploits. He also praised Purnima for her guidance to the Jharkhand troika of archers. He also gave his best wishes to the Olympic –bound archers on the signature board.

SKDAA secretary S.K. Mohanty said the archers had arrived at the Damadiri ground well before the start of the signature campaign which started at 3 pm. “The 30-odd archers eagerly waited for the event to begin and were very glad to wish Deepika and the men’s team. Mundaji was also very impressed with the eagerness shown by the budding archers,” he told The Telegraph Online on from Kharsawan.

Mohanty, also vice president of JAA, said the young archers were presently shooting with traditional bows and arrows and would subsequently switch to the globally acceptable recurve division. “We are keen to produce more Deepika Kumaris in Kharsawan,” he added.

Seraikela-Kharsawan has produced a good number of international archers and is aptly called the cradle of archery in Jharkhand.