DAS CAPITAL
Archer Atanu hits bull’s eye to pip Olympic champ
Tokyo, July 29: Indian archer Atanu Das on Thursday proved a point by knocking out two-time Olympic champion Oh Jin Hyek to join his wife Deepika Kumari in individual pre-quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics.
Das, who had lost his place to rookie Pravin Jadhav in the fancied mixed team event after slipping to 35th place in the ranking round on Friday, showed nerves of steel to edge out the legendary Korean in a onearrow shoot-off.
The individual Olympic champion from London
2012 and a team gold medallist here, Oh started the shoot-off with a 9 as Das delivered a perfect 10, hitting the bull’s eye to seal the issue 6-5 (10-9) in an extraordinary fashion.
Earlier in the day, Das saw off a tough challenge from Chinese Taipei’s Deng Yu-Cheng to win 6-4 from being locked 4-4.
Chasing India’s first ever Olympic medal in archery, Deepika and Das, who are the first Indian couple to take part in the same discipline in the Games, are the only two Indians left in fray.
Deepika has been pitted against Russian world
No.8 Ksenia Perova, a team silver medallist at Rio 2016 and a former world champion in her pre-quarters on Friday, while Das will face home favourite Takaharu Furukawa, an individual silver medallist at London Olympics and a team bronze winner here in the
Last-16 clash on Saturday. The mixed team and
men’s team had made quarterfinal exits on Saturday, while the Army duo of Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav lost out in their respective last-32 matches on Wednesday.
Returning to action a week after the ‘break up’ with Deepika Kumari for the mixed pair event, Das showed amazing resilience as he bounced back from being 2-4 down to edge out the 39-year-old Korean great by the thinnest of margins.
Incidentally, Das had
beaten Oh earlier too in the shoot-off for a bronze medal in the Asian Championships in Bangkok in 2019.
DAS EXPECTED TO PAIR
WITH WIFE DEEPIKA
Atanu Das on Thursday expressed his disappointment for being denied the chance to play the mixed team event with his world No.1 wife Deepika Kumari, whom he credited for his stunning win over twotime Olympic champion Oh Jin Hyek here.
A week after their mixed team partnership was split up, the duo’s bonding was well evident during Das’ upset last-32 win over Oh Jin Hyek, who had won the men’s team gold here.
Deepika was seen shouting from the gallery to cheer her husband who came from being 2-4 down to win in the shootoff.
The duo thus remains the only Indian archers in medal fray, advancing to their respective pre-quarter finals. “I was listening to her full time. She was
pushing me: ‘believe in myself ’, ‘you can do it’, ‘just stay calm and handle the situation’,” Das said.
“She is world number one and I’m privileged to have my wife in this competition. It was a great support and motivation for me,” he added.
“I expected to play with her in the mixed team but unfortunately it was not possible. I don’t know why... but it’s quite satisfying (as we both are in the last-16). We are giving our best,” Das said. —