PUNE, Aug 8: National Defence Academy's H D Barapatre could not believe it. Neither could his colleagues or the two academy officers present at the Abasaheb Garware college ground. And they had good reasons to be amazed.For, this was the first time that Cadet Barapatre had taken the bow in his hands for any competition. Considering himself to be a novice, even he had not expected to do anything great. But to his surprise, he logged 23 points the highest in the men's open category, to lift the title in the Pune District Archery Association organised District Archery Championship today.And those whom he pipped to the post were none other than the very people who had taught him the basics of the game not too long ago at NDA's Archery Club -- Sumeet Manchanda (second with 20 pts) and A Singh (third with 12 pts).
Barapatre's first try hit the outer black circle, gaining him four points. In the second, he almost hit the bulls eye, landing just on the outer yellow circle, adding nine more to his tally. The general consensus pegged it to be a fluke at this point. Soon after, however, Barapatre laid to rest everyone's doubt, this time by hitting right on the bull's eye on his third attempt.
Says Barapatre's colleague Sumeet: ``It was wonderful to see him in action. He came here as novice. In fact it's not too long ago that we were teaching him how to handle the bow and place the arrow. It's really surprising to see him achieving such results here.'' Sumeet is himself a twice merit card (Best Archer) holder in the academy.
In the women's open group, Sunita Chaudhari bagged the first prize amassing 25 points, followed by Vimal Sonawane (20 pts) and Panchasila Gaikwad (18 points).
A total of 120 archers, a creditable increase in number from the last year's figure of 30, participated in the one-day meet.
OPEN (18 yrs and above; 30 meter)MEN'S: 1. H D Barpatre (NDA; 23 pts); 2. Sumeet Manchanda (NDA; 20 pts); 3. A Singh (NDA; 12 pts). WOMEN'S: 1. Sunita Chaudhari (25 pts); 2. Vimal Sonawane (20 pts); 3. P Gaikwad (18 pts).Junior (13 to 18 yrs; 20m)
Boys: 1. Tanmay Satarkar (Abasaheb Garware; 21 pts); 2. Chandrakant Shelar (Abasaheb Garware; 20 pts); 3. A Yadav (NDA; 19 pts).
Girls: 1. Soniya Kamthe (Chhatrapati Vidhyalaya, Paud; 22 pts); 2. Renuka Yende (Vimlabai Garware; 17 pts); 3. Ashlesha Shimpi (Vikhe Patil; 12 pts).
Sub-Junior (8 to 12 yrs; 10m)
Boys: 1. Swapnil Kamthe (Sadhana Vid.; 26 pts); 2. V Sonawane (Vimlabai Garware; 25 pts); 3. Amey Ghade (New English School; 19 pts).
Gilrs: 1. Shrutika Bhagwat (Wadgaon Maval; 20 pts); 2. Pooja Navalakha (St. Joseph's, Pashan; 15 pts); 3. Snehal Bafna (Muktangan Vid.; 8 pts).
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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