Deepika keeps medal hopes alive, in last-16
TOKYO: World number one archer Deepika Kumari survived some anxious moments before getting past US teenager Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez 6-4 to sail into the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s individual section and keep Indian medal hopes alive at the Tokyo Olympics here on Wednesday.
On a day her teammates Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav made second round exits, Deepika seemed to feel the pressure initially as she started off hitting the red-zone, capping a poor seven at the floodlit Yumenoshima Park. Deepika lost the first set by one point but she bounced back strongly with three 10s in a row to take a 4-2 lead. She, however, failed to wrap up the match in the fourth set as she misfired a six in her second arrow.
The 18-year-old American made it 4-4, winning the set by one-point (25-24). In the winnertakes-all fifth set, Deepika had two 9s to start with before finishing with a poor 8. Needing a 10 in her last arrow to force a shootoff, Jennifer signed off with a nine in what was a promising campaign for the American teenager. Deepika’s husband Atanu Das is the only other Indian left in the fray. The India No 1, who slipped to 35th place in the ranking, begins his campaign against Deng Yu-Cheng of Chinese Taipei in his opening
round of 64 match on Thursday. Earlier, Deepika sailed into the second round with a facile 6-0 win over lower-ranked Karma of Bhutan in her opening match. World number 193 Karma, the flag bearer of Bhutan—a country where archery is national sport -- during the opening ceremony, had poor scores of 23, 23 and 24 in the third set where she managed a 10.
The Indian also had a slow start, scoring
26 each in the first two sets, before she picked up with a 27 to seal her last-32 berth.
Olympic debutant Jadhav knocked out world number 2 Galsan Bazarzhapov in his opening match only to suffer a heavy defeat to world champion Brady Ellison in the second round.
The 25-year-old was at his best in his first round match, beating Bazarzhapov of Russian Olympic Committee in straight sets. But, he could not continue his impressive form and succumbed to Ellison, the American world number one in his next match.
Ellison too was ordinary, especially in the second and third sets where he misfired in the red rings with two 8s, but Jadhav was miserable and hit two 7s and 8s in four arrows to join his senior Army colleague Tarundeep Rai in making a second round exit.
Rai too had made a second round exit, going down to Itay Shanny of Israel in a tight shootoff finish for a heartbreaking exit in his swansong Olympics.