In a reminder to London Olympics, India’s ace archer Deepika Kumari failed to live up to the expectations as she once again faltered under pressure to miss a target as Indias medal hope in the women’s team event received a big blow by finishing a lowly seventh in the archery qualification round of the Olympics on Friday.
According to a report in India Today website, Deepika Kumari finished a poor 20th with a score of 640 out of 720. “Meanwhile, In her third Olympics, senior most Bombayla Devi Laishram shot 638 to finish 24th while Laxmirani Majhi finished a lowly 43rd with 614 points. Eyeing their eighth gold from as many editions, Koreans lived up to their reputation with Choi Misun, Chang Hye Jin and Ki Bo Bae making it top three,” says the report, adding that the three women archers wayward performance will affect their medal prospects in the team event where they got a ranking of seventh and open their campaign against Colombia who were ranked 10th.
“A top four-finish would have given them a bye to the quarters but the Indian womens team, who shot 1892 points together, will begin the elimination stage from the first round of 16 on August 7. If they manage to advance, India may face second ranked Russia and third ranked China in their prospective quarters and semifinal clashes,” says the report.
Meanwhile a report in The Indian Express said Atanu Das showed fine composure and skill to bounce back from a poor start in his maiden Olympics to finish fifth in the qualification round as archery got underway at Brazil’s historic Samba street on Friday.
“Lying a lowly 10th after first 36 arrows, the 24-year-old Kolkata lad turned it around in style in the final set of 36 arrows by shooting 23 perfect 10s including 10 closest to the centre to finish fifth with 683 out of the possible 720. Das is the lone male member in the Indian archery team and compete only in the individual section as the men’s team had failed to qualify from the World Championship,” says the report.
Leading the qualification round was two-time World champion Kim Woo-jin who shot 700, for a world record on the opening day of the XXXI Olympiad.
