Ojas Pravin Deotale Wiki, Height, Age, Family, Biography & More

Ojas Pravin Deotale is an Indian archer.

Wiki/Biography

Ojas Pravin Deotale was born in 2002 (age 21 years; as of 2023) in Nagpur, Maharashtra. He attended VT Convent from Narendra Nagar, Nagpur, Chanda Devi Saraf School, Nagpur, Maharashtra, and Siddhivinayak School, Gumgaon, Nagpur. He pursued his higher education in hotel management. As a child, Ojas faced a serious health problem, and their family doctor recommended not to put him under stress. Ojas managed well and looked after himself as he grew up. As a child, he would take apart the brooms at home to make bows and arrows, which made his mother buy new brooms every few days. Before he started archery, he did roller skating and even won medals in various tournaments at the state level in Maharashtra.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 6′ 0″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Parents & Siblings

Ojas’ father’s name is Pravin Deotale, who is a snap shooter. His mother’s name is Archana Deotale, who is a former badminton player. His brother’s name is Jatin Deotale.

Career

Coaching and Training

At the age of 13, in 2015, he discovered archery during a summer camp. Noticing his interest in archery, his parents signed him up at an archery academy in Trimurti Nagar, Nagpur. He trained with Satyajeet Yelne, initially using an Indian bow before moving on to a recurve bow. He later switched academies because the one in Trimurti Nagar didn’t have a target buttress. He joined the A-ZEE Sports Academy, where he trained for 5 to 6 years with NIS Coach Mohammad Zeeshan Rafique. There, he learned about compound archery, started practising it, and became the first player to win a national-level medal in Uttarakhand. Later on, the A-ZEE sports shop paid for Ojas’s equipment because his parents couldn’t afford it then. His parents thought Rs. 90,000 was too much money and wanted to invest it in a business instead. However, his uncle supported him and said not to worry. In an interview, he said,

My uncle gave me Rs 90,000. It was a turning point in my nascent sporting career. Many talented players quit sports as they don’t get timely support. I must consider myself lucky.”

He lived at his coach’s house for over a year, where his coach trained him without charging any fees. He was well-regarded in the academy, so everyone was always willing to help him out. He trained with Coach Mohammad Zeeshan at the A-ZEE Sports Academy. In July 2022, he switched academies and moved to Satara. He started training at Drushti Archery Academy with Coach Pravin Sawant.

Struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, when travelling was restricted, he stayed at his school, Siddhivinayak School. There, he practised on a target buttress that his father had set up for him at the school. He began his training at 5 a.m. with yoga and meditation and ate food brought to him from his home by a school worker named Chaya Rakshak. During the second lockdown in 2021, Ojas rented a room close to the Tajbagh Academy. He later moved to his school and stayed there by himself.

Road to Becoming a World Champion

In 2022, during the Indian Archery Junior team selection in Sonipat, he scored 1,423 and 1,427 out of a total of 1,440 points. He also surpassed the Junior World Record of 1,419 points, which was set by Mike Schloesser in 2014. In December 2022, he took part in the Sharjah 2022 Asia Cup, Leg 3, marking his first appearance for the senior India team. He secured a silver medal individually and a gold medal with his team in the men’s compound event. Before his first game as a senior, he had an accident in Pune where he broke his leg. Despite the broken leg, he managed to pass the fitness test. On 5 August 2023, he made history by becoming the first Indian male archer to win a gold medal in the men’s compound category at the World Archery Championships in Berlin. During the competition, he defeated Poland’s Przemyslaw Konecki with a score of 148-144 in the quarterfinals and overcame the previous world champion, Dutch archer Mike Schloesser, in the semifinals. In the final round, Deotale scored a perfect 150, winning over Poland’s Lukasz Przybylski by 150-149. In 2023, he was ranked at number 9 in the world.

Medals

National Games

• 2022: Silver in Individual category (Gujarat)

• 2022: Bronze in Team in category (Gujarat)

Asia Cup

• 2022: Silver in individual category (Sharjah)

• 2022: Gold in team category (Sharjah)

• 2023: Gold in Compound Men’s category (Hangzhou)

• 2023: Gold in Mixed Team Compound category (Hangzhou)

• 2023: Gold in Men’s Team Compound category (Hangzhou)

NTPC Senior National Archery Championship

• 2023: Silver in Individual category (Gujarat)

• 2023: Silver in Team event (Gujarat)

World Cup

• 2023: Gold in the Mix-Team category (Antalya)

• 2023: Gold in the Mix-Team category (Shanghai)

• 2023: Bronze in Team category (Medellín)

Award

• 2023: Arjuna Award

Facts/Trivia

• In an interview, his father mentioned that Ojas didn’t have friends, wasn’t keen on watching TV, and barely used social media. His main aim was to stay concentrated on achieving his dream of earning a medal for India.

• During his spare time, he enjoys reading the life stories of Abdul Kalam and Sachin Tendulkar.

• He loves dogs a lot and has a pet dog named Simba.
  

  Ojas Pravin Deotale with his pet