Limba hopes Padma Shri will popularise Indian archery
January 25th, 2012 - 10:40 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Former India archer Limba Ram Wedensday was overwhelmed after being selected for the coveted Padma Shri and hoped the recognition would popularise the sport in the country.
Limba, best known for representing India in the 1988, 1992, 1996 Olympics and for his gold in the 1992 Asian Championships, was Wednesday chosen for Padma Shri. It comes 20 years after he was conferred with the Arjuna Award.
“Archery is already on the upward graph in our country and my recognition should give further boost to it. Today I feel all hardships that I faced in my life were worth it,” Limba told IANS from Jamshedpur.
The famous archer, who hails from the Ahari tribe in Rajasthan, said he could never imagine that he would go on to compete at the highest level.
The 39-year-old rates his quarterfinal finish at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics as the highlight of his career. He missed the Olympic bronze by just a point.
“Though I won the Asian Championships gold in 1992 but reaching the quarterfinals at the Barcelona Olympics is definitely the highlight of my career. The field in Barcelona was tough and I still rue the fact that I missed the bronze medal by a point,” he said.
“I come from tribal background and it is matter of great honour for me to get the recognition. It was special when I got the Arjuna Award in 1991 and to get this after more than 20 years is a feeling I cant describe,” he said.
Limba also coached the women’s recurve team to a gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
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Tags: 1996 olympics, 2010 commonwealth games, archer, arjuna award, asian championships, barcelona olympics, bronze medal, graph, hardships, highlight, honour, indian archery, New Delhi, olympic bronze, olympics, padma shri, quarterfinals, tribal background, tribe, wedensday