(From left) Khushbu, Divya and Digvijay Dhayal.
For the Dhayal family from Sopanbaug, it was a day for double celebration. Twin siblings and national archery champions Divya and Digvijay, ranked World No. 48 and 194, aced the CBSE Class X examination, with 10 and 9.4 CGPA respectively. On the same day, Divya cleared the trials for the Asia Cup III, which will take place in Taiwan in July. In Rohtak for the trials with their father, Lt Colonel Vikram Dhayal, an archery coach, the 15-year-old twins said they were pleasantly surprised by the results.
Students of the Army Public School, Camp, they recalled how last year had been hectic, packed with national and international championships and qualifiers. “There was barely any time to study. We missed many classes… our teachers and friends used to provide us with notes on WhatsApp, which helped us prepare…. Scoring a 10 CGPA is fantastic news, especially as it came on the same day that I cleared the trials for the Indian team for Asia Cup,” said Divya. For Digvijay though, the celebrations would have to wait a bit as his trials are still going on.
Incidentally, their elder sister Khushbu Dhayal is also an international archer, ranked no. 98 by the World Archery Organisation. Last year, she had cleared the Class X exam with a 89.4 CGPA.
Last year was one full of travelling and achievements for them. Divya won the Junior National Championship in Satara, followed by the Senior National Championship in Faridabad, while Digvijay got a team gold medal in the Junior National Championship and won a gold and silver in Asia Cup last September. For the twins, archery has always preceded academics, as they ensured that even in Class X, they spent an hour on physical training in the morning, followed by three hours of archery training in the evening on non-championship days. They would double the number of training hours before any competition.
In fact, they didn’t take a break from training even when the board exam was going on, since Divya had to leave the next day for the Asia Cup II in Bangkok.
Asked how they managed academics with their hectic training schedules, the twins said they leaned on each other for support, and also credited their teachers. “We didn’t take any tuitions. If we needed extra classes in any subject, we just had to ask our teachers, and they would ensure we got it… we also helped each other get notes and clarify concepts… I think we worked well as a team,” said Digvijay.
For them, their next goal is the same one: qualifying for the World Championship that will take place in Argentina.
