“I just wanted to perform well and build towards the (2026) Asian Games trials,” he said.
Not only did Rahul make the Indian team for the Asian Championships, he also pocketed the individual silver medal and the team gold last week in Dhaka.
The youngest in the largely new-look Indian men’s recurve team also featuring Atanu Das and Yashdeep Bhoge that defeated South Korea for gold, Rahul also went past Korean Seo Mingi in the individual semi-final before losing to compatriot and Paris Olympian Dhiraj Bommadevara.
That the youngster from Haryana’s Jhajjar, whose father is a bus driver in a family of farmers, earned his first senior medal even in individual apart from team left him a touch surprised. And, with a surge in confidence.
“Going into the Asian Championships, I thought things might change for me. We were confident about the team medal. But I never imagined that I would also win an individual silver,” said Rahul. “The silver gave me the belief that I can compete and do well in the individual event as well. Plus the fact that I beat a Korean in the semi-final.”
Korea’s top three men in recurve did not compete in Dhaka, but 24-year-old Seo Mingi is their fourth-best in rankings. Irrespective of the strength of the field, Rahul too did not have a lot of experience coming into the event.
This is his first year at the senior stage on the back of Asian medals at the junior level. The Asian Championships, and the World Championships (Round 3 defeat) and World Cup Stage 4 (Round 1) preceding it, gave Rahul a taste of the elite level.
“The mentality is completely different here,” said Rahul. “At the junior level, your opponent will give you chances. At this level, everything rests on your arrow if you want to win a medal.”
Flying arrows is what attracted Rahul to the sport in the first place around a decade ago. His village in wrestling-dominated Haryana had an akhara but also a ground adjacent to it where he saw some people trying archery.
“In Haryana, most kids are encouraged to take up wrestling, and even my parents did. But I found archery different and more interesting at first glance,” said Rahul.
That interest developed into something more serious during the pandemic, when he had “nothing else to do” and his scores too started picking up in domestic competitions. His family into farming and father driving buses as a government job meant they made a decent living, but Rahul only had access to the bare minimum for his archery career.
“Kaam chala leta tha (It was enough to make it work). My father couldn’t afford to buy new equipment. But he ensured that I never felt that I would have to train with faulty equipment,” he said.
He got into the army a year-and-a-half ago, which opened doors to better training ground, coaching and equipment. Reliance Foundation then came in earlier this year, which opened doors to added support like an exposure training trip to Korea before the Worlds. “To see the discipline of their archers was an eye-opener for me,” he said.
Rahul trains at the Army Sports Institute in Pune, alongside the likes of Dhiraj. “Training with them helps me get mentally stronger. Because, I have to compete with them first to just get into the Indian team,” he said.
He will have to do that again in another trials for a big-ticket event next year. Rahul may now be an Asian Championships medallist, yet the goal remains the 2026 Asian Games.
“The trials are coming up in a month, and I want to fully focus on that,” he said. “These medals have given a big boost, but the Asian Games is my goal.”
