Olympic Players: All You Need To Know About Indian Archer Tarundeep Rai

Indian Archer Tarundeep Rai seemed to reach the quarter finals with ease at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 but lost by a single point to his opponent from Israel. Putting in sincere efforts is no less than a victory and Tarundeep is representing his country at the Olympics and it is a great honour. Here is everything you should know about Tarundeep Rai.

Tarundeep Rai was born in the Namchi district of Sikkim on 22nd February 1984. Tarundeep represents India internationally in Recurve archery discipline and currently ranks 31 in the world archery ranking. He is part of the Kirati community and as an interesting fact, he is Baichung Bhutia's cousin. He started with his Archery journey in 2003 and has planned to retire from the world of Archery after the Tokyo Olympics, 2021.

Tarundeep Rai won the Bronze medal in Recurve men's team at the Asian Archery Championships held in New Delhi in 2005. Later that year, he also won the Silver medal in Recurve men's team at the World Archery Championships in Madrid, Spain. He also won the Bronze medal at the Asian Games at Doha in 2006. In 2010, he won the Silver medal in Recurve's men individual and became the first Indian archer to be Asian Games Silver medalist. In the same year, he also won Gold in the Archery World Cup in China, followed by a Silver medal at the Archery World Cup in Croatia. He also went on to win the Silver Medal at the Antalya Archery World Cup in Turkey in 2012. At the 2019 Asian Archery Championships, he won the Bronze medal in Recurve men’s team event. In the same year, also a Silver medal at the World Archery Championships Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

He faced a career-threatening shoulder injury that kept him out of the game for two years. He suffered a right shoulder injury due to overuse and could not make it to the men's team at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. But soon he got back in his game and won several medals that left people stunned.

Tarundeep Rai was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2005 for his achievements in archery. In 2020, the government of India honored him with the Padma Shri that is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India.

Tarundeep Rai is happily married to his wife, Anjana Bhattarai. He is also a father of an amazing son.