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The coach calls him ‘Olympic material’. When focusing on the target with his bow gripped, arrow stretched, he looks towards his future. This is all about Gora Ho, India’s young archer who won gold for the nation.

17-year-old Gora Ho hails from a tribal belt in Jharkhand and was part of the Indian team of archers at the Asia Cup stage 1 archery meet held in Bangkok. The trio Gora Ho, Akash Malik and Gaurav Lambe secured the gold medal for India scoring 27-26.


Gora’s inspiring story

Gora’s story is an inspiration for many Indian youngsters. Life was not merciful to him. He hails from a financially backward family and lost his mother in 2016. His 50-year-old father has been confined to bed following a paralytic attack. The circumstances never made Gora give up his passion. In fact, he made his family and nation proud.

Gora is the youngest of the four siblings and is looked after by his elder brothers. In the last six years, He won 100 medals in sub-junior and junior events at the state level and national level tournaments. He bagged 3 gold medals during the 2014 National School Games held in Ranchi and bagged 10 medals at the Jharkhand Archery Championships. He also finished 17th in the junior individual round with a score of 648, a promising beginning for an international archer debut.

Even as a little boy, he showed a remarkable talent for archery. He has the capacity of making the country proud in more international competitions. He needs proper guidance,” told Prem Shankar, Gora’s brother to The Times of India.

Gora began his training at the Arjuna Academy in Kharswan and he was spotted by coach B Srinivas Rao. Rao moved him to the Dugni Academy in Seraikela. “This boy is Olympic material. His natural talent needs to be honed through focused training under the guidance of a recognized foreign coach,” Rao told The Times of India.

“Support from my teammates and hard work helped me perform well at my first tournament,” Gora was quoted by The Times of India. “I always believed that one day I will win gold. I was a bit nervous but believed in my abilities,” he told The Telegraph.

The 17-year-old is now dreaming big and practising to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The state government identified his talent and presented him with state-of-the-art equipment including a bow which costs Rs 2.70 lakh.

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Editor : Anoopa Sebastian Sebastian

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