Chekrovelü Swuro ~ Aiming for the stars

Even with the latest commendable feat of the Indian National Women Archery team that won Silver in the 46th World Archery Championships held in Turin, Italy in July 2011, Chekrovolü Swuro, as one of the three-member team still feels that her Greatest Award is yet to be won. 

She has put the map of Nagaland to a global audience in the field of Archery but there is no air of pride in her, as she strictly confesses to being a daughter of the land, who grew up in an ordinary family. 

But her achievements are, by all means worth celebrating, although she refuses to take credit for making India proud. In her almost 2 decades of mastering Archery, she has represented India in over 30 Tournaments held in more than 30 countries across the world including Bangkok, China, US, Iran, London, Turkey, Italy among others. 

During these series of events, she has immensely contributed to bringing home numerous Bronze and Silver Medals from the World Championships and Asian Games but the Individual Silver that she won way back in 1999 in Bangkok remains a precious feat for her.

She has many winning moments to recall but she still insists that these victories would not have been possible if it weren’t for her sister, Vesevolü who is an Archer herself. Recalling how she took her first test at Patiala in Punjab Under-14 Archery Championship in 1995, she affirms that her sister has been her mentor all the way.

“Whatever I am today is because of her”, she confesses as she looks back on the times when her dad used to encourage her to follow in her sister’s footsteps. “My Mom was a bit hesitant”, she expresses, but commits to having the greatest support from her sister for all times.

She remembers with fondness her four years’ training in the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur which she completed in 2002. Although deprived of experiencing High School & College life, she doesn’t seem to regret taking the road less traveled.

Her passion for the game stayed even with the challenge of adjusting to several weather conditions, lifestyles, food habits and the like. These are little hurdles she comes across each time she sets out to play for a world audience. But she enjoys the pleasure of seeing new places and making new friends, and with such simplicity expresses that her tiredness from a journey vanishes the moment she sees the beauty of a particular place.

But unmistakably, it is her love for the game that has brought her this far. One can see that she is committed to it even as she plans on giving her best shot for as long as she is able and someday she wishes to come back home and impart whatever knowledge and experience she has gained about Archery in the state.

She is encouraged to see that Nagaland has an Archery Academy now, as well as the growth of Sepaktakraw here while expressing that this is one improvement in the state as far as sports is concerned. However, she is mindful of the fact that there is no enough facility for sportspersons here. Otherwise, she feels that Nagas can really excel in sports.

Currently at the India Coaching Camp in Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, Chekrovolü is undergoing training for participation in various international tournaments including the 3rd Archery World Cup in the USA, the 2nd Asian Archery Championship in Iran, Olympic Test Event in London and the 4th Archery World cup at Shanghai China all scheduled for this year.

The Ace Archer keenly expresses that it is ultimately the Olympic Games that people in her field aim for. Even with a couple of tourneys coming up before the London Olympic Games 2012, it is her hope to be part of it throughout. And yet, she is aware that participation in the Olympics would solely depend on her performances in the upcoming tournaments.

Interestingly, Archery seems to be in the family’s genes as she excitedly informs of her younger brother, Thepuvoyi who has joined her and her sister in the field. Both of them will be participating in the 3rd Archery World Cup in the USA scheduled to be held next month from August 2-7, 2011.

Even with holidays a hard bargain, one can see her passion for the game but when asked what it means to her, she reasonably states that it is just one aspect of life. “There are a lot of other important things like family…that comes together to make life” she says.

Over and above, she insists that she is trying to make the best use of the God-given Gift, for which she is grateful. And of course, despite all the hard work that has reaped her great success, she is thankful to the state government while making particular mention of the Chief Minister of Nagaland, who is also the President of the Nagaland Olympic Association for his full support.

She also remembers how the state government extended her financial help to buy her bow when she first started off. The eighth daughter in the family from amongst 10 children, the champ from Dzulhami Village has come a long way.