It was a fight to the finish between brothers and competitors — Arjun Rao and Abhyudaya Srinet —in the 30 metres compound boys section at the 29th sub-junior national archery championship here on Monday. While Srinet is Dronacharya awardee and five-time former national champion Sanjeeva Singh’s son, Rao is his cousin. But national competitions are serious business and there was no love lost — on the field — between the two.

Arjun was aiming at a hat-trick of golds in the meet, having won both the 70 and 60 metres event earlier in the day. Srinet, on the other hand, had won silver in the 70 metres. He finally struck gold, with a score of 355 and a slender one-point lead over Rao. The latter is the reigning national junior champion and, at the tender age of 15, is already the top-ranked archer from Jharkhand. He also finished on top in the recent trials for the state team. “I used to beat him all the time. This is his first victory over me,” Rao admitted after his loss on Monday. On his part, Srinet was more pleased with his top-place finish on the podium. “I am happy as this is my first gold medal,” Srinet he said.

Nerves of steel
The final round was all about nerves — both keeping an eye on the other’s score and seeking help from their respective support staff. When Rao hit a nine with his final shot, there was a shout from his bench: “You take it easy, he (Arjun) shot a nine.” Srinet took his time to shoot a perfect ten, and later admitted that knowing his rival had missed the bull’s eye had a calming influence. “His miss made my job a lot easier. I took a deep breath and shot a ten,” 14-year-old Srinet conceded.

But while the last round rally might have been an exciting affair for the on-lookers, for Sanjeeva, who has nurture them from early years, it was only an extension of their practice at the JRD Tata Sports Complex, where they train.

“They have been competing like this since taking up the sport. They compete against each other during practice too. The way these guys fought till the last arrow was phenomenal. I want all archers to follow this zeal to win,” Singh said.

Sanjeeva also said that the duo had it in them to become world champions. “Arjun had an overall score of 1385. Abhyudaya shot 1354. These scores are good enough for us to win gold medals at internationals meets. At the Cadet world championships, the winning score was around 1370. So I am not exaggerating the talent we have here,” he added.

Monday’s results: Recurve girl’s 60 mts: Gold Deepika Kumari (SPSB), Silver Anjina Basumatari (SAI), Bronze Sumita Kumari (SPSB); 50 mts: Gold Padya Sardar (Jharkhand), silver Deepika Kumari (SPSB), Bronze Lavina Saluja (SPSB); 40 mts: Gold Deepika Kumari (SPSB), Silver Sumita Kumari (SPSB), Bronze Dikpali Boro (SAI); 30 mts: Gold Sumita Kumari (SPSB), Silver Deepika Kumari (SPSB), Bronze Padya Sardar (Jharkhand); Result ¿ boys (recurve) 70 mts: Gold Atanu Das (SPSB), Silver Hemant Basumatary (SAI), Bronze Sanjay Boro (Assam); 60 mts: Gold Hemant Basumatary (SAI), Silver Rajgovind Swansi (SSCB), Bronze Atanu Das (SPSB); 50 mts: Gold Mangal Ho (Jharkhand), Silver Hemant Basumatary (SAI), Bronze Jeetendra Kumar (SPSB); 30 mts: Gold Hemant Basumatary (SAI), Silver Atanu Das (SPSB), Bronze Mangal Ho (Jharkhand);

Team event girl’s: Gold Jharkhand, Silver Maharashtra,