At an age where most of her peers are hooked to the reel world, 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod keeps busy in the real world by reading chapters of ‘Vichar Niyam’. The Marathi book delves into the mind’s power and control.
The two others were 9s for an incredible 78/80 performance, by far the best across both finalists. Against the same Korean trio in Shanghai in May, Kumkum again hit 10s with almost habitual frequency during the semi-final in India’s triumphant World Cup Stage 2 run. “The good thing is that she doesn’t just read them, she puts it into action. This is the youngest member of the Indian recurve women’s squad shooting like the most experienced archer in the high-pressure semi-final and final. This is an Asian Games first-timer walking away with two medals on the day—a historic women’s team gold and a mixed team silver—as if to ask, ‘What is the big deal? “She wasn’t made to feel like this was a bigger event than any other. Against Korea in Aichi-Nagoya, Kumkum hit 10s with six of her eight shots. That was only her second World Cup, after breaking into the national team and making her debut in Mexico in April. At the end of that tournament, Dange, who accompanied the team as coach in Mexico and Shanghai by virtue of his trainee topping the trials, asked Kumkum if she wanted to accompany him to explore the new country. Kumkum maintained her mental grip on the big day. She kept her spot in the national team after two competitive trials. She backed up the World Cup gold with an Asian Games gold.
“She reads books mostly about the power of the subconscious mind, and demands one book after another,” Prafull Dange, her coach, told HT. For her, this was like a state tournament,” said Dange.
