Who said love doesn’t happen at first sight? Prathamesh Jawkar’s introduction to archery and the eventual lead up to an Archery World Cup gold and finishing top of the podium at the recently-concluded Asian Games in Hangzhou, has been nothing short of a Yash Johar classic – a chance meeting with the sport in a summer camp, a “lucky” shot at 10 in the very first attempt and the inspirational ‘Mary Kom’ movie at the end of the camp. To young Prathamesh, it was destiny, it was meant to be. And seven years later, through an eventful 2023, where he had already shocked world No. 1 Mike Scholosser to clinch a World Cup gold, the young Maharashtrian boy struck gold in China. On a seemingly busy afternoon of October 5, in the final phase of India’s historic Asiad campaign in Hangzhou, Prathmesh, along with Ojas Deotale and Abhishek Verma, stunned South Korea by five points to win the gold in men’s team compound archery.
Speaking to Hindustan Times Digital in an exclusive conversation, Prathamesh opened up on his experience in Hangzhou, his introduction to archery, meeting his idol Mary Kom, and on compound archery not making it to LA Olympics. The 19-year-old also talked about his association with Puma and how the sports brand has played a significant role in him getting the elusive yellow metal for India in Asian Games.
Here are excerpts…
Q) Well, it has been quite an eventful year for you – three individual medals – two in Archery World Cup and a gold in Asian Games. There are still two months left in 2023, but how would you sum up the year?
Yes, of course, it has been an extremely eventful year for me. Although I have been playing international tournaments and representing India since 2019, this was my first year of playing as part of the senior team and competing at the very highest level. And it turned out so much better than I had expected, especially getting an individual medal in my first year ever. But I’m really happy that I could pull that off. And yeah, I’m looking forward to win in the rest of the year too.
Q) How has the realisation of being an Asiad gold medallist sunk in? It’s now been a month, I guess, since you won it.
I think it’s funny that no, it hasn’t sunk in yet. Actually, I made a conscious effort to not think about it much and I didn’t let that sink in because, I don’t know, somewhere I have a little fear, I guess, that the victories might get to my head. Moreover, all the tournaments were so back-to-back, that I didn’t even get the time to sit back and think about it.
Q) Prathamesh, could you briefly talk about how you were introduced to the sport?
I am from Buldhana, Maharashtra, and I started archery at the age of 12. I actually came across it at a summer camp, which was part of an organisation called Symbiosis, where there were all kinds of sports – fencing, football, archery. I had, in fact, tried each one of them and surprisingly, when I shot the bow for the first time in archery, luckily, the first shot was a 10. It was a coincidence of course, but it stuck in my mind, and I thought maybe I can be good at it. After the summer camp had ended, I saw this movie ‘Mary Kom’, and I have always been inspired by the legendary boxer. And suddenly, I had this urge in me to bring medals for my country. So I thought archery could be a medium, because in my mind, I felt that I can be good at it. That is what led me to taking archery classes later.
Q) Did you get a chance to meet Mary Kom anytime later?
Yeah, actually it happened this time itself when we met PM Narendra Modi after the Asian Games. It was in fact the first time I met her.
Q) So tell me one thing, why compound archery and not recurve?
It was actually my coach’s call. There was a technical issue in my bow arm. The elbow of my hand, which I hold my bow in, was not quite flexible enough to shoot a recurve, so I had to settle for a compound. And also back then, compound bow used to look cool to me, so I thought, like, compound is better, the arrow speed is better and it’s more advanced. So that was also an aspect to choose compound.
Q) How long back was that – the decision to change from recurve to compound?
There is actually a wooden bow which is played at a national level, not internationally. It’s called Indian round. I used to shoot that, which was for about 6-7 months and then my coach shifted me to the compound bow.
Q) You’re in college, am I right?
Yeah. I’m studying BSc Zoology.
Q) How have you been managing archery and academics together? And how supportive have your parents been?
It differs from person to person. Some can manage both quite well, they can get good marks and good results in sport. But it’s not really something I fret about because I can only focus on one thing at a time. At present, I’m studying at Lovely Professional University, and they have been quite cooperative. I don’t need to go to the college daily, I just go to give the exams and I prefer to just study before the exam so I could focus totally in archery. This has been working for me very well because I can’t really manage both simultaneously and archery is my priority at the moment.
My parents’ support is everything to me. I was never the most hardworking kid, but when it came to archery, my parents made sure that I am working the hardest amongst all the archers. Also financially, archery is a very expensive sport for someone who’s coming from a lower-middle-class family. It was really hard for us in the beginning and they managed it quite nicely and they didn’t let me suffer at all. So I always like to say that myself, and to my parents, that all these medals that I have earned, this is a team effort from all three of us.
Q) You are associated with Puma now, so how does the support make a difference in your journey?
Yeah, that support makes quite a difference because first of all, I never even dreamed that a brand as big as Puma could ever sponsor me. So definitely Puma is sponsoring me with gear, with clothing, and especially shoes, and honestly, my performance improved because of the Puma shoes. Actually, they are more stable for me and personally, and I would recommend them to any archer. The support is there, the financial support is there. But more importantly, it motivated me that Puma recognised me, that, yes, I am someone. Puma is sponsoring players like Virat Kohli and Mary Kom, these are big names. So it felt like I can also be as great as them. So it has really been a motivating factor for me. So, yes, things are going great after Puma sponsored me.
Q) I’m a little curious to know how changing shoes made a difference in your performance, could you elaborate?
Before Puma sponsored me, I used to shoot with any running shoes. I didn’t focus on it much because I couldn’t afford to try many shoes. But after Puma sponsored me, I could get the sneakers, and those are very different, with a flat base. And those are working quite good for archery. I have also made my friends try it and it’s working great for them too. And you can also see that in all the finals, I’m shooting in the same pair of shoes from Puma because it’s stable.
Q) If you could also talk about your thoughts on Puma’s ‘Let there be sport’ campaign.
It is not just me, Puma is also contributing in overall sports development in India with Let There Be Sport Campaign. So I think playing sports at the very highest level brings glory to the nation, for sure. But I believe everyone should at least participate in sport at every level because in return, it gives you so much. I think the most obvious reward it gives you is good health, obviously. And I believe health should be the priority of every individual. And playing sport is fun as well. It gives you so much joy because unlike in a lot of things, in sport, you don’t have to wait for the result. You can enjoy the moment, you can enjoy the present. And being in the present is really good for mental health too. I think it’s such a beautiful thing. And with Let There Be Sport campaign by Puma it’s becoming more and more possible for everyone. And people are becoming more aware that sport is not an extracurricular activity. Sport is like an integral part of life because it teaches you valuable things. So I think Puma is not only helping me, but Puma is trying to help build a sports ecosystem in India.
Q) In addition to skill, archery also requires a great deal of mental clarity. So how do you go about with your mental exercises before big tournaments, like in Asian Games or the World Cup?
Over the past few months, I’ve been working with my sports psychologist, Hindola Kanala. She made it really easy for me to get mentally prepared.
And there are exercises I’m given, like I do mindfulness meditation in the morning, which really helps me to train myself to stay in the present. And I think visualisation is a big part of my training. I like to visualise my process before going on the field. I like to visualise myself playing perfectly, and so it’s easier for me to do it in real life.
Q) What next for you now, after Asian Games?
Archery is both for outdoors and indoors and throughout this year, I have only played outdoors. In India, this form of archery is more famous, but internationally, indoor archery is more popular. There is actually an event called the Vegas shoot, which happens in Vegas, USA. I’m planning to compete there in February next year. And I think the financial support from Puma is really beneficial for me because there we have to go on our own expenses.
Q) Compound archery failed to make it to the Olympics this time, so your thoughts on that?
It’s really disappointing to hear that because for the past two years, we were looking forward to it, and we actually planned everything to compete in the LA Olympics too. But it’s heartbreaking for us to hear that. Either way, I’m going to compete in every other competition, but except Olympics. So it’s always going to be there in my mind that I can’t make it even if I’m capable of it. But yeah, maybe the next Asian Games, in 2026 in Japan, I would target an individual title.
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