Archer Rahul Banerjee in practice

Before any major tournament, prayers for miraculous wins by athletes and sportspersons are not unheard of.

Indian archer Rahul Banerjee, however, is only praying that the staff of Air France can locate his missing equipment.

With less than a week to go for the archery World Cup in Ogden, USA, — this is the last chance for the archers to qualify for the Olympics — Banerjee is being forced to train with borrowed equipment as the airline lost his en route to the United States.

What has made matters worse is that since it is a weekend, the archer is having trouble procuring new equipment and is surviving on hand-me-downs from other players for the moment.

“What’s the use of paying an airline $75 for extra luggage if that can’t even prevent them from misplacing the luggage. In spite of lodging an official complaint, the bow box is yet to be traced.

“This is an Olympic qualifying event and I have to train with borrowed equipment. I am using Jayanta’s (Talukdar) bow, a Spanish archer’s arrows and some other equipment given to me by a player from the United States,” Banerjee told Mirror.

“Even if I do get a new bow, it will take about three weeks to set in my hands. A player is used to his or her own equipment and new equipment can cost me points. I am just praying that the airline somehow manages to locate my equipment,” he adds.

Recurve archers in the Indian men’s team can book a team berth at the London Olympics if the side finishes among the top-three. While form may be on their side at this juncture, they are living on a hope and a prayer.