Limba Ram


Limba Ram is an Indian archer who represented India in international competitions, including three Olympics. He equalled an archery world record in 1992 at the Asian Archery Championships in Beijing. He was awarded the Padma Shri Award in 2012.

Early life

Limba Ram was born in Saradeet Village on January 30, 1972. His family belongs to the Ahari tribe and because of poverty, Limba Ram relied on hunting birds like sparrows, partridges as well as other animals in the jungle with his indigenous bamboo bow and reed arrows. In 1987, one of his Uncles brought news that government would be conducting trials in the nearby village of Makradeo to train good archers. At this trial, 15-year-old Limba Ram and three other boys were spotted by selectors of the Sports Authority of India. Thereafter, all four boys were sent to New Delhi for the Special Area Games Programme, a four-month training camp under the coaching of R. S. Sodhi.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, the RSS-linked organisation that works for tribal welfare, has claimed that it identified Limba Ram through its Ekalavya Khelkood Pratiyogita competition.

Career

Limba Ram was spotted and trained by the Sports Authority of India in 1987. In that same year, he became overall champion at the National Junior Level Archery Tournaments held in Bangalore. Just one year later, in 1988, Limba Ram would be victorious at the National Senior Level Tournament, earning for himself not just the title of overall champion but also the honour of representing his country at the Summer Olympics held that year in Seoul. In 1989, he reached the quarterfinals of the World Archery Championships held in Lausanne, Switzerland. In the same year, he would finish in second place at the Asian Cup in Individuals and India got team Gold.
In 1990, he helped India finish fourth at the Beijing Asian Games. He represented India in three Olympics. In 1992, he equalled the world record of Takayoshi Matsushita in the Beijing Asian Archery Championships in the 30 meters event, with a score of 357/360 to bag the gold medal. After receiving this news Parliament of India congratulated Limba Ram. In 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics, Ram missed the Bronze medal by one point in the 70-meter segment and finished with 10th rank. In 1995, he stood with second rank and the team would win a Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi. In 1996 he was National Champion with Asian Record.

Awards

The Government of India honoured him with the Arjuna award in 1991 and Padma Shri in 2012.

Downfall

In 1996 Limba Ram joined TATA Group. In the same year he suffered from serious shoulder injury while playing Football in training camp at Kolkata. He was unable to shoot a bow and lost his focus and concentration. He discontinued his job with TATA due to this problem. He joined Punjab National Bank in 2001 as a cashier. In 2003, he participated in third National ranking prize money archery tournament organised by Sports Authority of India but finished 16th.

Present status

On January 10, 2009 Archery Association of India signed one-year contract and appointed Limba Ram as National Archery Coach for 2010 Commonwealth Games.