Jayanta Talukdar

Jayanta Talukdar is an Indian Archer, and one of the most promising players of the sport in the nation. He picked up the game not much ago, still with his sharp skills and in-born talent for Archery, he’s rose on to become on of the most bright stars of Archery, and generates a lot of hopes in the eyes of Indian Archery lovers.

Early Life & Introduction to Archery

He was born in the year 1987 in Assam as the youngest son of a quarry-owner. Surprisingly, Jayant was not even aware of the sport until the Archery Coaches and Selectors spotted him in a Talent Hunt Trial in Guwahati in the year 2000. Impressed by his tall and strong physique, they invited him to join the training camp even though he had never even touched the sport in his life. Considering it a yet another outdoor trip, 13 year old Jayant attended the camp at the prestigious Tata Archery Academy, Jamshedpur and surprised everybody by finishing 1st among all the 50 boys and girls at the camp who had gathered from all over the nation. Jayant’s physical strength coupled with his endurance and mental toughness proved Archery to be the perfect ground for him, and himself to be the perfect player for the game. Soon he found a place for himself in the Junior National Archery team of India.

National Archery

In the year 2005, Jayant surprised the whole nation when just at the age of 18 years and with a very short span of his total career in Archery, he toppled the bigwigs at the 25th Senior National Archery Championship held at Ernakulum and became the new Senior National Champion in Recurve Individual event of Archery. He also won the Senior National title the next year again in 2006, which was held in Kolkata.

International Archery

He made his international debut with the Asian Championship 2003 held at Yangon, where the Indian team grabbed a Silver Medal. He played in the Asian Championship 2005 held at New Delhi, where the team again clinched a Silver Medal but in the individual event he lost to Dong Hyun Im of South Korea in the Quarter Final round.

Jayant participated at the Junior World Archery Championship 2004 held at Britain. The Indian team won a Silver Medal over there, with Jayant being the highest scorer among the national team. It was the nation’s first ever Medal at a World Championship tournament in Archery. He also played at the Sydney Olympic Games 2004, where he finished 11th in the team event and 43rd in the individual event. Further, Jayant contributed to win his team a Silver Medal at the World Championship 2005 held at Madrid, and was adjudged the Best Indian Performer at the tournament. He also won a Gold Medal at the SAF Games, Colombo.

Highest Achievement

Perhaps the highest point in Janyant’s Archery career till now came in the year 2006 when he grabbed the Gold Medal at the FITA Meteksan Archery World Cup tournament held at Porec, Croatia. The first Indian Archer ever to clinch the coveted title, Jayant defeated Magnus Petersson of Sweden in the final round to win the Gold by 108-105. Prior to that, he beat the Olympic Champion Marco Galiazzo of Italy by a slight margin of 109-108 at the tournament.

Awards & Honors

To recognize Jayant Talukdar’s excellent performance and consistent contribution towards the nation through the game of Archery, the Government of India honored him with the prestigious Arjuna Award in the year 2007.

Achievements

• Member of the Indian team that won silver medal at the junior World Championship in Britain.
• First Indian archer to win the gold medal in the FITA Meteksan Archery World Cup.
• World no. 2 in individual recurve event.
• Won gold at 2006 Colombo SAF Games.