Aditi, Daughter of a Scrap Dealer Makes It to Indian Archery Team

By Ruchi Sharma

Representing India at an International platform is a dream of all aspiring sportsmen and sportswomen but behind it goes a whole story of struggle, grit and determination. Same holds true for Aditi Jaiswal. She is a 20-year old hailing from Bengal and is making headlines as she has qualified to be a part of Indian women’s recurve squad for the world championships, Asian Games and the World Cup too!

Aditu’s father is a scrap dealer and she often faced the pressure to study well and follow the footsteps of her brother who was studying engineering as it would guarantee a job. She has been amazing academically and even secured a seat in Xavier’s college for Economics Honours. But archery has always been her calling. The archery equipment has a very high cost that’s why her school, Mahadevi Birla Sishu Vihar sponsored the equipment for her.

Her potential was recognised by Olympian archer and commonwealth gold medalist Rahul Bannerjee who is now a full time coach. He supported her and also pacified her family that one can’t become a world champion overnight.

When Covid hit the country, Aditi’s family was amongst the worst impacted as it often became difficult for the family to even have one meal a day. The struggle did not end there as cyclone Amphan hit the state and her house literally had water everywhere. But she did not let all this deter her spirit and kept the goal in front of her very clearly. She is greatly inspired by Korean archer Ku Bonchan, who is a double gold medallist from the Rio Olympics.

She brought the first medal for Bengal after 7 years at the national championship and also secured a Bronze medal in Khelo India National Ranking in April 2022. Now she will be proudly representing India at International platforms and we can’t wait to see the laurels Aditi brings for us along with her team. She is also a part of the India squad for the Asia Cup Stage I scheduled to be held from March 14-19 in Taipei.

All the best Aditi and Indian Archery Team!

Information Source: TOI and Sportstar. Pic Source in Banner: TOI