Archers insulted Limba during London Olympics: Source

[1]

India's archery coach Limba Ram on Saturday made a quiet exit from the national team not just because of the country's dismal Olympic performance but also after being allegedly insulted by his top wards Deepika Kumari and Jayanta Talukdar, who denied the accusation.

According to a team source, Limba was at loggerheads with Deepika and Jayanta who apparently stopped communicating with him.

While Deepika was not available for reaction, Talukdar dismissed the allegations, saying, "It's all false. Everything was smooth in the camp."

Indian archers drew a blank at the Games, bowing out by the quarterfinal stage in both the team and individual events.

Deepika, a world number one going into the Games, was touted as a strong medal hope but flopped miserably at the Lord's Cricket Ground where the competitions were held.

Limba, whose contract with the AAI expired after the Olympics, was not available for reaction as he left this morning to Jaipur to rejoin the Rajasthan Sports Council as sports officer.

The source claimed that Limba was disturbed with the attitude shown by his wards and the three-time Olympian was not keen to accompany the team to the London Games.

"Top archer Jayanta Talukdar had stopped talking to him since the World Cup Stage III in USA, while others too were not listening to his advices," the source said.

"Talukdar had showed dissidence and fought with the coach, challenging him openly. He (Limba) went only on the insistence of AAI secretary general Paresh Nath Mukherjee," he said.

In fact, such was the bad blood in the camp, the AAI had to take an assistant coach, Subedar Ravi Shankar of the Army, to facilitate communication.