Head to head archery: KUMARI versus ROMAN

They burst on to the international scene in similar fashions. Aida ROMAN, though she’d been shooting around the world for some time, won that silver at London 2012 – while Deepika KUMARI’s Commonwealth gold was nothing short of an epiphany, for her and for India.

Ask someone who has taken recurve women’s silver at the last three World Cup Finals, and they’d probably go with one of the Koreans. Ask someone which one of this pair sings on the bus, and they’d probably get it wrong… read on for a look at two of the best in the business.

 

Mexico   Aida ROMAN
4 World ranking   Recurve woman

Hoyt Ion X/Quattro Bow
Easton X10 Arrows

@cuerdarosa
Deepika KUMARI   India
Recurve woman   World ranking 15

Bow Win&Win Inno Max/Prime
Arrows Easton X10

Deepika Kumari

 

Current form

Aida, at age 25, is currently riding a superb run of form: indoor world gold at Nimes 2014, a couple of team medals from Shanghai, high finishes in Medellin and an entirely-expected clutch of gold medals from the Mexican Grand Prix earlier this month. It’s all been since she partnered with a new coach, Ms LEE.

Nineteen-year-old Deepika, however, suffered a blow to her confidence when she failed to make the Indian team for the first World Cup stage of the year in Shanghai. She returned to the squad for Medellin after some sessions with her old coach, although she didn’t make much of an impact in Columbia.

Right now, purely on results form, Deepika is the underdog.

Advantage: Aida

Track records

On past record, though – it’s Deepika with a big edge on the World Cup tour: two stage individual golds and a current run of three consecutive silver medals at World Cup Finals. She won the Antalya stage back in 2012 when she was just 17 – and her Commonwealth gold even younger.

Aida, despite a host of titles – most recently the indoor world crown – and that precious, precious Olympic silver medal from London 2012, has yet to pick up a World Cup stage win.

Advantage: Deepika

Head to head match-ups

Their last and only meeting was at the spectacular Paris 2013 World Cup Final under the Eiffel Tower, where Deepika bested Aida 6-2 in a tense quarterfinal. KUMARI went on to beat Aida’s teammate Alejandra VALENCIA in the semis before losing to YUN Ok Hee in the final when she memorably failed to get an arrow off while leading the match.

Advantage: Deepika

Mental game

Aida Roman has developed a steelier side to her shooting in the last couple of years since that final at Lords in 2012, and seems particularly focused and confident at the moment.

More pessimistic about her chances, Deepika’s been quoted as saying: “My scores are down right now. I feel nothing.” The Indian media are notoriously hard on their sportsmen and women returning from international duty without a medal round their necks, and Deepika – as one of the nation’s poster girls – has been savaged by the press for her perceived lapse.

She has shown time and again on the international circuit that she can pull 10s out of the bag when it really matters, and if she hits form and starts a good run in Antalya, she could go all the way to the top once again. 

Advantage: Push

Shooting style

There’s a very obvious difference between Aida and Deepika’s shooting style – and it’s all to do with alignment at full draw.

Aida shoots across her body, with her front arm and flat of her shoulder blades in-line and pointing towards the target. It means she gets a lot of rotation when she lays on the back tension and her shot pops when she lets go: the release hand flies quickly to its final position and her bow rotates nicely. It’s got spring, it’s got constant movement through the clicker and it looks satisfying.

On the other hand, Deepika’s shoulder blades are a tiny bit squarer to the target with the bow drawn. It’s hardly noticeable, but it means she keeps the whole draw process in front of her, and the shot looks more restrained when she releases.

It’s 100% subjective, because both techniques are highly-successful, but Aida’s style really has… style.

Advantage: Aida

Archery image

Aida is a perpetually smiling and very recognisable presence at international archery tournaments, drawing cameras from all over the field, while Deepika is much more reserved in competition. Although rumour has it you can occasionally hear her singing on the team bus…

Both women are active on social media, although Deepika wins the numbers battle with a staggering 226,000 likes on her very active Facebook page. 

Advantage: Push

Conclusion

Aida ROMAN wins this head-to-head, but it’s a close one. She seems to be overdue an World Cup title and with the form she has been maintaining recently, it seems only a matter of time before she takes a gold medal back to Mexico.

That is not to say Deepika KUMARI should ever be ruled out! Both women are also in strong teams with a good chance of making the medal matches, and it seems likely one or both of them will feature in the Antalya mixed team event, too.

The pick: Aida

Competition at the third 2014 Archery World Cup stage in Antalya starts on Wednesday 11 June. Check event news, and visit World Archery’s Facebook page and @worldarchery on Twitter for coverage.

 

Author: The Infinite Curve

The Infinite Curve is a blogger from North London who writes about pretty much anything archery related: from history to athletes and current international competitions.

Visit The Infinite Curve’s website and blog, follow @infinite_curve on Twitter and check out his Facebook page.