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span class="inline inline-left">JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana“A princess doesn’t need a crown”, as American pop country singer-songwriter Taylor Swift sings.

That perhaps would suit Indonesian archer Ika Yuliana Rochmawati, who competed at the London Olympics last month.

Although the underdog brought home no Olympic medal, she performed at a level that international coaches said was on a par with the world’s top archers.

Fans who watched Ika, at Lord’s Cricket Ground and elsewhere, ran after her for her autograph and photos as if she were a celebrity.

Her surprising Olympic streak began in the first round of competition, when the eldest child of Sugeng, 48, and Nanik Suhartatik, 48, shockingly upset world No. 3 Fang Yuting of China. Ika was ranked 76th in the world at the time.

“To be honest, I was nervous because I was facing a Chinese athlete, and most Chinese athletes have good skills,” Ika told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview at her home in Mulyoagung village, Bojonegoro, East Java.

Despite being nervous, she kept her spirits up and remembered the advice of her late coach Donal Pandiangan.

“He once told me that Chinese athletes have one weakness: They are immediately satisfied and lose their focus when they win first,” Ika said.

“That’s what I needed to remember, so I could focus on all the techniques I’d learned during practice.”

Ika’s arrows flew straight enough to send Fang from a 2-0 lead to the latter’s 4-6 defeat.

Her victory against Fang, and the roar of the crowd, boosted Ika’s confidence to take on the UK’s Amy Oliver, who was ranked No. 37 in the world, in the next round.

“I was confident that I could beat Oliver given that her rank was below mine in the qualification round. Oliver was 56th, I was 40th,” said Ika, who trains at least three hours per day with coach Endah Sulistyorini.

Ika’s confidence led to a 7-1 victory over Oliver, with three perfect 10 shots at the last set, advancing to the 1/8 elimination round.

Interestingly, it was Ika, rather than her host country’s competitor Oliver, who seemed to be the local crowd favorite.

“Bu Endah said everyone, including athletes and coaches from other countries besides Britain, gave me standing ovations,” said Ika, whose mother is a sports teacher at state elementary school SDN Campurejo 1, Bojonegoro.

“In the meantime, I tried to remain calm and ignore all the noise of the applause until everything ended.”

In a celebrity-like experience, Ika said she was greeted and congratulated by British kids, and their parents, as she left the athletes’ lounge after her match with Oliver.

The kids also asked her for her autograph and to pose for pictures with them.

“I was surprised, yet happy at the same time. I just beat an athlete from their country, but they asked me for an autograph and a picture,” said Ika, who then gave the kids Indonesian team pins.

Similarly, as Ika was looking for a place to eat near the archery venue with her coach and her friends, a couple of South Korean tourists stopped her as she crossed the street.

The tourists had worked in Indonesia and said they not only recognized Ika, but that they were impressed by her performance against Oliver. An instant celebrity, Ika was again asked to sign autographs and pose for photos.

Archery coaches from Malaysia, Colombia, Italy, Taipei and India joined in the chorus of praise for Endah’s protégé, noting her excellent technique and strong confidence.

“That was the first time I got credit from coaches from other countries since I began training Ika,” Endah said.

Ika’s dazzling performances apparently attracted more photographers and journalists to cover her next match, with the number of photographers jumping from 10 to 20. Eager for the best photo, they stood only three meters from Ika as she faced Russian archer Ksenia Perova in the 1/8 elimination round, one round away from the quarterfinals.

Ika blamed the photographers’ proximity and clicking sounds their cameras made every time a picture was taken, for her loss to the world No. 9.

“The sound of camera clicks made me lose my focus. There were so many journalists in front of me. It was unexpected,” Ika said.

The Indonesian archer said she tried to ignore the sounds and retain her focus, but to no avail. She told her coach of the disturbance only after the match.

However, she also admitted that her desire to end the match quickly was also partly to blame.

Ika, who found herself in a 5-5 draw in the fifth set, failed to land a perfect 10 in a one-arrow shoot-out, giving up the victory to her opponent.

Ika’s journey to the 1/8 elimination round boosted her world ranking from 76 to 46 after the Games.

The 23-year-old, who loves to read romantic novels, is now aiming to improve her London Olympic record for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

She trains three to four hours a day every day but Monday, in scorching heat at a dry and dusty field in Banjarsari village, Trucuk district, Bojonegoro.

The field, 5 kilometers from her house, is a simple affair with no high-tech equipment. The empty field, covering 1,500 square meters, is surrounded by some 20 teak trees.

To the west of the field stands a ramshackle structure for athletes to prepare before practice, while nine footings for targets stand at distances of 30m, 40m, 50m, 60m and 70m.

The center of each target is torn from frequent use, but her club is unable to always afford new ones at Rp 100,000 (US$10.52) apiece.

Ika’s coach, Endah, said she and her husband I Gusti Nyoman Budiana, who heads the Indonesian Archery Association’s (PERPANI) Bojonegoro chapter, picked up used targets from official tournaments set up by the Federation Internationale De Tir A L’Arc (FITA), or the World Archery Federation, for practice purposes.

“It’s OK. Although we have minimal facilities, we still keep trying to give our best to bring Indonesia’s name to the world,” said Ika, who won gold at the 2011 Asian Olympic Qualifier in Tehran, Iran, last October.