Road to Rio: Bombayla Devi Laishram, the veteran Indian archer looking to end on a high at Olympics 2016

Name: Bombayla Devi Laishram Age: 31 Discipline: Archery Category: Women’s individual and team Qualification: Bombayla Devi had to go through six stages of trials before being selected for the 2016 Rio Olympics. She along with Deepika Kumari and Laxmirani Majhi make up India’s Rio-bound Women’s archery team. S****trengths: Bombayla Devi Laishram’s previous Olympic experience will be valuable in both the individual and team events. The veteran Manipuri archer will play a key role in the Indian Women’s Archery team. Past Olympic performance: Made the pre-quarterfinals at the 2012 London Olympics, Represented in 2008 Beijing Olympics but failed to reach the finals Past record: Gold medal in Women’s recurve team event at 2010 Commonwealth Games Rio Prospects: Bombayla Devi Laishram, who will in all probability participate in her final Olympics, will look to leave a mark at the Games this year. The Manipuri archer would have learnt from her previous failings in the Olympics and would be keen to at least better her previous Olympic performance. With a world rank of 69, Bombayla Devi isn’t one of the medal hopefuls for India, but the three-time Olympian would want to impress. [caption id=“attachment_1059809” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Bombayla Devi’s experience will be key for the archer at Rio Olympics 2016. GettyImages[/caption] Bombayla Devi was born in Manipur in a family that was completely engaged in sports. Her mother was an archer who represented India in the past. Bombayla was to follow her footsteps and joined archery in 1996. She was a part of the Sports Authority of India in Imphal where she received her formal training. The 33-year-old has several accolades to her name that includes four gold medals, five silver medals and four bronze medals at the Archery World Cup at its various stages since making her debut for India in 2007. However, the Manipuri archer failed to impress during her two Olympic appearances in Beijing (2008) and London (2010), going out in the first and second round respectively. Bombayla is highly regarded in her state of Manipur where her mother teaches archery and her father is the coach of the handball team. With Mary Kom — India’s regular Olympic contingent from Manipur — failing to qualify for the Rio event, Bombayla would want to keep Manipur’s flag flying high in Rio and end her Olympic career on a high.