By IANS
Kolkata : Ace archer Dola Banerjee, who returned to the city Tuesday to a tumultuous welcome after securing a gold in the Archery World Cup in England, will be back to the qualifiers in Jamshedpur next week preparing for the world meet in Ziang, China in September.
Dola Banerjee returned to the city amid a mad frenzy as a fusillade of flashbulbs and jostling mediapersons vied for her attention at the city airport.
Apart from newspersons, a huge crowd had gathered to cheer the north Kolkata girl who has moved over to the Jamshedpur Tata Archery facility two years back.
She overcame a tough challenge from Chinese Juan Juan Zhang to win the recurve individual gold medal at the Meteksan Archery World Cup in Dover, England Sunday last.
Dola defeated Zhang 111-110 in a nail-biting finish in the final round. Dola, who won the recurve team bronze on Saturday, earned her ticket to the final by defeating Malgorzata Cwienczek of Poland 108-101 in the semi-final without much difficulty.
Earlier she spearheaded the Indian team, comprising Chekrovolu Swuro and L Bombayla Devi, to the team bronze on Saturday by registering a comfortable 208-198 victory over Poland.
Jostling with the police and a large media brigade, Dola was felicitated by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Eastern India and Baranagar Municipality, for the laurels she had earned for India.
She said, “I feel proud and humbled by the achievement. I only hope to win more medals for my country in future.
“I will be going to Jamshedpur for the national qualifiers next week. After that we head for Ziang in China in September,” she said. The Ziang tournament is the fourth of the five world meets in archery.
As the bagpipers led the onward journey for Dola, she said, “This is overwhelming. I will remember the love showered on me.”