No mother would encourage her daughter to take part in any violent sport. But when Dilhara showed a great liking to archery when she was young how could a mother say no? Archery is no longer associated with violence. There was a time when the arrow was shot true and straight and many were the consequences.
Robin Hood, who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, was a classic example. Robin Hood’s art with the long bow is now carried on in archery contests all over the world. A tiny part of it touched Sri Lanka when Dilhara Salgado, an old girl of Methodist College Colombo and a member of the Sri Lanka Air Force Archery Club, used the Recurve Bow with telling effect at the World Archery Championships in Turin Italy in July to earn a wild-card entry to next year’s London Olympics.
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| Dilhara Salgado |
The Sri Lanka team consisted of three men in Lakmal Ranasinghe, Nipun Seneviratne and Hewa Perera. Dilhara Salgado was the only women archer in the team. The team also had two volunteers from Korea – Kyoung Su Jeong and Suk Seung Ilm who had been sent as Korean Archery Coaches to Sri Lanka. The archers in Sri Lanka have given Kyoung Su Jeong a Sri Lankan name as ‘Namal Master.’
At the Archery Championships in Italy Dilhara scored 1289. “At that time my FITA (Federation International Target Association) World Ranking was 57. From a distance of 60 meters, I scored 328 but unfortunately I signed for the incorrect score 318. As a result my score went down by 10 marks and the FITA score dropped to 1279 and my World Ranking slipped to 70. At that point I made up my mind to do my best at the Eliminations as I had to shoot with an archer who was ranked higher than me. I did well. I won two sets and obtained four points and tied with her. I lost only by two points in the last round. After the competition my World Ranking rose to 57,” beamed Dilhara.
Dilhara’s mother Prasanthi is a Professional Bridal Designer. She has also been Dilhara’s coach to a certain extent. She had watched archery videos with Dilhara and had helped her to correct her technique at practices. She also helps to get the archery equipment in shape for competitions. “Until January this year my FITA scores were stagnant and ranged from 1240 to 1250. However much I tried I could not get beyond that. But in February this year we got the Korean coach (Namal Master) from the Korean Association. He guided me and changed some of my techniques.
“In May this year we had trials for the World Archery Championships in Italy. We had three trials. I scored above 1260 at the trials. In one attempt I shattered all the FITA Women’s Distance National Records and gained 1288 in the FITA Round which is the highest National score for men and women in Sri Lanka. After that I practiced diligently with Namal Master until we departed for the World Championships in Italy,” said Dilhara.
“My ambition from small days has been to represent Sri Lanka at an Olympic event and win a medal for my country. I have been treading on this path with great difficulty. There had been times when my bow strings were damaged at international contests. I have strong faith in God. I also must thank my parents, my sister Lakshana, Air Commodore Mohan Soysa, my uncle Kushil, my grand mother, Uncle Premal, Mr. Joshua and Muditha Aiya who have helped me on this difficult path,” said Dilhara.
Dilhara recalls that her first love for archery was when she watched the Television of the 1992 Olympics Opening Ceremony in Barcelona. I was thrilled to see the lighting of the cauldron by an archer with a flaming arrow. From that moment there was a burning desire in me to become an archer. I got the opportunity to learn archery in 2004. Three days after joining the archery club I won a Bronze in the 18 meters novices’ event. After a month’s practice I bagged a Gold Medal for 30 meters novices’ event. At the 2005 National Championships I became the National Champion and was selected to the National team. I only had a basic bow at that time. I did not have a proper coach. I got my archery knowledge from the Internet and by watching videos of best Korean archers in the U Tube. When I attend international competitions I made it a point to study the techniques of the world’s best Korean archers and their equipment.
“From 2008 at every Sri Lanka trial I have scored more than the Minimum Qualifying Score (MSQ) for the Olympics in FITA Round as well as in the Olympic Round. I was able to achieve MQS in an international competition only in February 2010 at the South Asian Games in Bangladesh I was ranked fourth in South Asia at that contest,” concluded Dilhara. |
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