Sergio Pagni started what he's called "this project" last December. 12 months on, he's presided over the single most productive year Indian archery has ever seen.
Pagni, the Italian coach of the Indian compound archery team is an archery great in his own right (four-time World Championships gold medalist, 30-time World Cup medalist, and more), but what he's done with the Indian team is truly remarkable.
He had first connected with the Indian compound archery team in 2018, as a consultant before the Jakarta Asian Games. They'd won two medals back then: men's team and women's team. At the Hangzhou Asian Games, with Pagni as full-time travelling coach this time, they won five out of five possible golds. A 100% strike rate. Oh, and a silver and a bronze. The only time an Indian lost was when they faced a compatriot.
As we wrote on these pages back then, India have not dominated a sport in this manner since hockey at the Olympics all those years ago.
The best thing about it all was that it wasn't all that unexpected. You see, just before landing in Hangzhou, this team had gone to Berlin and won three world championship golds (out of a possible five), and a bronze. It was a stunning performance, because before 2023, India had never won a gold at the Worlds (compound or recurve), they'd only ever won 11 medals in the 92-year history of the Worlds.
5️⃣ events, 5️⃣ gold medals.
An Indian clean sweep of compound archery at the Hangzhou #AsianGames ������ pic.twitter.com/WEO3rp2JBq
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) October 7, 2023
The man behind all the success, Pagni, told World Archery after the Berlin performance: "someone said to me I arrived in India to find diamonds, but it's not true. I arrived in India and took some pieces of stone that looked like they would shine, and made them clear."
And he's put in some work with the elbow grease. He told PTI before leaving for the Asiad that his method of teaching archery was a little more complex than others. "My method is managing them in three phases -- physical which means a lot of workout sessions, technical and the mental part of how to manage stress and emotions," he said.
Physical sessions included battle rope exercises, "When you lift 30 kgs for more than 30 seconds, a couple of hundred times a day with windy conditions, it becomes tough. So, endurance is very important," he said. He changed the system, introducing regular gym work to those who'd never done any of it, correcting schedules for others who over did, ensuring they worked out together as a team.
The effect of focusing on training in endurance - physical and mental - was evident both at the Worlds and the Asian Games. "Playing matches after matches at the highest level, winning or losing, can be mentally very draining. Even if you are very gifted, but playing a final can stress you so much emotionally," Pagni had said. In none of the finals these archers were involved in did that show.
Whether it was the increased competition at the Worlds or the increased pressure at the Asiad (since India's eyes were on them real-time here), none of them followed the traditional Indian sport narrative of "oh-my-god-the-nerves-make-it-stop"... there was something inevitable about it all.
It wasn't just the sweeping changes in training and schedule, though, but also the little technical adjustments: the weight of the bow, the tuning of the string, the angle of the elbow. As an elite archer, Pagni was able to speak a language these champion athletes understood.
Pagni was contracted to be with the Indian team till the Asian Games. Since compound archery is not an Olympic sport, the next time this team will enter the Indian public conscious is probably the Nagoya Asiad in 2026; but when they do it will be as favourites. As defending champions in every single category.
The man who is the main reason behind that is ESPN India's Coach of the Year 2023. Sergio Pagni, sculptor of champions.