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Tarundeep Rai, is an Indian Archer, and one of the most famous sportspersons hailing from the North-Eastern Indian region.
Early Life
He was born on the 22nd of February 1984 at Namchi, the capital of South Sikkim and situated in the Indian state of Sikkim. Right since his birth, Tarundeep found the spirit of sports all around him as he was born into a family connected with many acclaimed sportspersons, although his father himself was a professional photographer. Baichung Bhutia, the best known Football star of India is a cousin of Tarundeep who took up the game of Archery at a tender age.
Debut into Archery
Tarundeep emerged as an excellent Archer very soon, and scored a Bronze medal at the National Archery Championship 2004 held at Jamshedpur. He was also a Recurve FITA round Individual winner at the National Archery Championship 2005 held at Ernakulam.
International Archery
He made his debut into the International Archery at the age of 19 years when he played at the Asian Archery Championship 2003 held at Yangon, Myanmar. Rai helped the team grab the 4th position in the event, while he himself finished 43rd in the Individual category. In the Asian Championship 2005 held at New Delhi, Tarundeep got his team a success by winning them a Siliver Medal, while at the same event he lost to Bo Ram Kim of South Korea in the Quarter-Final round of the Individual category.
World Cup Archery
Tarundeep Rai participated at 3 World Cup Archery tournaments in the year 2006 held at Porec (Istria), Antalya (Turkey) and Shanghai (China), although he could not perform quite well at these events. In the Doha Asian Games 2006, he was a member of the Indian Archery team that managed to grab a Bronze Medal.
Olympic Games
He also played at the Sydney Olympic Games 2004, where he helped his team finish at 11th place in the team event of Archery, while in the individual event he stood at 43rd position overall.
Asian Archery Grand Prix
Rai achieved a big success in the Individual Men (Recurve) event at the Asian Archery Grand Prix 1st Round held at Bangkok (Thailand) in February 2004. He won the final round to grab a Gold Medal in the tournament.
World Archery Championship
In the World Archery Championship 2003 held at New York, Tarundeep contributed in getting his team clinch the 4th position in the team event, while in the individual event he finished at 33rd place. But his best performance at the International level was yet to come. In the World Archery Championship 2005 held at Madrid (Spain), Tarundeep helped his team win the Silver Medal, while in individual event he marginally lost to Won Jong Choi of South Korea by 106-112 for the Bronze Medal play off. In the initial rounds of the tournament, Rai had defeated Eduardo Velez of Mexico by 164-158 in the first round, Vic Wunderele of USA by 161-150, Fujun Yong of China by 164-161 and Butch Johnson of USA by 110-108. In the Semi Final match, Ryuichi Moriya of Japan beat Tarundeep by 107-104, and subsequently in the Bronze Medal play off he lost to Won Jong Choi of South Korea. Although he couldn’t make it to the Final round of the event, Tarundeep Rai was the first Indian archer to make it to the Semi-Final round of World Archery Championship.
Awards & Achievements
- For his outstanding contribution to the nation through his consistent and excellent performance in the game of Archery, Tarundeep Rai was honored with the Arjuna Award by the Government of India in the year 2005.
- Won gold medal in the 2004 Asian Grand Prix Archery Championship at Bangkok.
- Member of the Indian team that finished fourth in the 2003 World Archery Championship in New York.
