Mumbai: Kumkum Mohod returned from her third international senior competition to her hometown Amravati on Monday night. Her coach asked if she could report to the training ground the next day at 3:30 p.m.
The 17-year-old recurve archer, crowned a World Cup gold medallist in Shanghai on Sunday, arrived at 3:20 p.m.
“You see,” said her coach Prafull Dange, “that’s the kind of dedication she has.”
That dedication, and an unrelenting “bhook (hunger)” that Dange singles out as her standout quality, has driven the teen’s rise as the latest rookie recurve archer from the country to make a mark on the international stage.
Kumkum did so by topping the domestic trials in January to earn her maiden World Cup ticket. And then, alongside Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat — experienced compatriots she had bettered in the trials — she stood atop the World Cup Stage 2 podium as the women’s recurve team champion.
“It felt really good,” Kumkum told HT. “The experience of competing there taught me that I can achieve a lot more, and shoot a lot better. The medal has helped raise my confidence a lot.”
It was only three years ago that Kumkum picked up recurve, and five years further back that she first picked up a bow.
Living in the same locality as Dange, who runs an archery academy in Amravati, Kumkum’s father approached the coach with a request: “I want my daughter to take up archery and have a career in it.”
Dange accepted the new recruit, and in six months, she went to an U-9 tournament in Vijayawada and won an individual medal in the Indian round.
“I started enjoying the game a lot as I kept playing,” said the soft-spoken Kumkum.
Even as her love for archery grew gradually, the “bhook” was inbuilt. As was the “zid (stubbornness).”
“I saw that in her from a young age,” said Dange. “Once she sets her mind on something, she will only rest once she does it. If I challenge her to do something in training, let’s say shoot 9 or 10 a particular number of times in a session, she won’t leave until she gets it right.”
“That’s just how I am,” said Kumkum simply, when asked about that attitude.
She is also a diligent reader of books, a rare trait among kids her age. The teen reads and follows learnings from ‘Vichar Niyam’, a Marathi book on the power of the mind, and maintains a handwritten diary every day.
She is also a diligent worker, which explains her turning up for practice the day after landing from Shanghai amid a flood of congratulatory visits and messages from well-wishers in her hometown.
“Often, I tell her to take Sundays off, but she still turns up to train,” said Dange. “At times I have to force her to take the day off, saying, the muscles will tire otherwise and it will affect performance.”
Her father, Anil, runs a small business of manufacturing sweet boxes, and Kumkum, the only child, wants to quickly return the support she has received.
“Even though she is still a teenager, she keeps saying that she wants to start supporting her father financially as soon as possible,” said Dange.
“My father has really helped me a lot and played a big part in my journey,” said Kumkum. “And even if my performance goes down, he never stops believing and motivates me a lot.”
Kumkum and her father have a running bet. Seeing her friends carry mobile phones, the teen got an urge to have one too. The father made a deal — the day she wins an Olympic medal, he will buy her the latest iPhone, no matter the cost. Kumkum readily agreed.
While the last word on that is for later in her career, the start has been promising so far. Kumkum competed in just one senior international event last year (the Asia Cup) and maintained her composure in her second World Cup appearance by shooting a 10 in the tense shoot-off against China in the final.
Dange said she doesn’t get too intimidated by tough opponents, like South Korea in the team semi-final at the World Cup. Or by big names, like several Olympians she went past at the trials.
“She doesn’t see who she is competing with,” said Dange. “She just takes her shot and sees what’s in front of her. She followed that during the trials and even at the World Cup.”
Another test of that awaits Kumkum in the trials for the Asian Games later this week.
