Amid much controversy over the refusal of the Indian archery team’s Korean coach Baek Woong Ki to seek accreditation for the Paris Olympics, former Olympian and SAI’s high performance director for sport Sanjeeva Singh is confident that the six-member team will return from the Olympics with three medals, ending a decades-long quest for success in the quadrennial event.

Indian archers will compete in all five categories: individual recurve (men), individual recurve (women), team (men and women) and mixed teams.

Six Indians — Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav, Tarundeep Rai, Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat — have qualified for Paris 2024 and after a training and acclimatisation period in Compiègne, France, they were among the first batch of athletes from the country to enter the Games Village.

“Compared to Tokyo 2021, the preparation has been better planned with a lot of emphasis on scientific training, mental conditioning and most importantly adapting the nature of the domestic tournaments to the Olympic format,” Sanjeeva, the HPD of SAI’s National Centre of Excellence for Archery in Sonepat, said in a statement.

“If we go by the current form and the way the archers are performing, we can realistically look at three medals: men’s individual, men’s team and mixed team. Of these three, one will definitely happen.

“A medal in the women’s competition is a bonus, but the team has to be attuned to each other,” said Sanjeeva, who regularly competes with both the junior and senior teams in international competitions but is not in Paris.

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Sanjeeva’s comments come just a day after India’s expatriate coach Woong Ki was denied accreditation for the Games. The Korean, who had arrived in the French capital with the Indian team after overseeing preparations in Marseille, said on Saturday that he had been “removed from the role of Olympic coach at a crucial time” and is now flying back to India with his return ticket already booked.

Sanjeeva, who competed in the individual and team events in Seoul in 1988, said the sports ministry is investing huge amounts of money in the current Olympic cycle and that is the reason why so many Indian archers qualify for the Olympics.

“The ministry has spent Rs 39.18 crores on archery in the Paris Olympics (2021-2024). A total of 41 national camps and 24 foreign exposure trips were supported by the Indian government through its Target Olympics Podium Scheme,” he said.

He believed the men’s team’s qualification for Paris late in the match was a blessing.

“The fact that the men’s team qualified late for Paris is probably a blessing. It kept our archers sharp and if they can keep that focus and play with guts, a podium finish is a big possibility,” he said.

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Sanjeeva did not give any indication as to why the Korean coach was not given accreditation, but said that the seniors in the squad, such as Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai, should give their best and take up the challenge in the team events straight away.

Both Deepika and Rai are playing their fourth Olympics.

“Deepika has matured a lot and has done well in two World Cups. Her role will be very important as she anchors the team at the end. She has to finish bravely and confidently. A lot depends on her. She has to be in the right frame of mind as sometimes she gets a little nervous. If Deepika stays calm and cool and fires her arrows in one go, the sky is the limit,” Singh said.

“He (Tarundeep) is not lacking in experience but if he and Pravin (Jadhav) are confident and courageous and if they don’t take too much time to shoot and do what they have been doing in training, then a medal is assured,” Singh said.

“The seniors must lead the way and it is important to perform as a team.”