Three-time Olympian Deepika Kumari is massively disappointed after a shock elimination from the trials for the archery event at Asian Games and three World Cups, but pledges to come back stronger from the setback.
"Pure ek saal ka chutti ho gaya hai (we've been left out for one year)," Deepika, who has been an India regular since her gold medal feat at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, told PTI. "Pure saal bhar karne ke liye kuch bhi nahin hai hamare paas (we've nothing left for the remaining whole year, no tournament, nothing). We are not never used to such a situation. We are completely heartbroken," the world number two, said.
"We will keep practicing hard and remain in the thick of things. Definitely we will make a comeback - we are 100 per cent sure," Deepika, who is also out of the TOPS along with Das, added.
"Like they say everything happens for a reason. Whatever happens, happens for the best. I'm sure we will upgrade ourselves further and return stronger from this debacle. We will definitely return with our best versions. It's about mental issues and we are working hard on it."
The husband-wife duo, who share five Olympics and a clutch of World titles between them, failed to make the India team in a three-week long trial that concluded at the SAI Centre Sonipat on Sunday.
While Das made an early exit, finishing outside the top-eight, fifth-ranked Deepika fell by the wayside in the round-robin matches.
The same team will play the three stages of the World Cups in Antalya (April 17-24), Shanghai (May 15-22) and Paris (June 19-26) before heading to the Asian Games in September. The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham doesn't feature archery and the Asian Games is the only multi-discipline event scheduled this year.
With six months still left for the Hangzhou showpiece, the federation has left a scope for the likes of Deepika and Das to qualify, should a selected archer scores poorly.
"There is no cut-off score, but one can go out by scoring 10 points behind the leading archer. But I know how much these archers can score, so we are not sure of our chances this year," Deepika said.