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The Indian archery mixed team of Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav crashed out of the Tokyo Olympics after a 6-2 defeat at the hands of gold medal favorites South Korea. They fought well in the pre-quarters to come from behind and secure a 5-4 victory against the World No. 4 team from Chinese Taipei, but the team from Korea proved too hot to handle for the Indians.
It was not a surprise to see the South Korean mixed team of An San and Kim Je Deok come out in blistering form in the elimination rounds. After making light work of the Bangladeshi team, the duo continued their juggernaut with a 6-2 win in the quarter-finals. They continue their progress and remain the firm favorites to seal the gold medal in the event.
There was much to learn from India's defeat. The Koreans put up a great show that proved why they are the world beaters in this sport. Here are the three things we learned from the quarter-final clash.
Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav were inconsistent
The main reason India faltered was their incosistency. In the first round of the game, India had scores of 8, 7, 8 and 9. This total of 32 was easily bettered by the Korean pair and gave India a poor start to the match. India improved their shooting in the next round with a score of 37, but the Koreans, right on cue, upped their game and managed a total of 38. A few poor shots from the Korean pair handed the third round to the Indians. However, India's incosistency came to the fore yet again when they started off the fourth round with a 6 pointer. India's stronger member of the team, Deepika Kumari, failed to score a single 10 point shot during the contest. This cost them the game.
The Korean team's accuracy paid off
The duo of An San and Kim Je Deok impressed everyone in the ranking rounds yesterday. Their composure and accuracy continued in today's rounds as they produced consistent scores of 10 and 9 throughout their matches. They had hiccups on a couple of shots which cost them the third round but they quickly recovered to claim victory.
South Korea are the favorites to win the gold medal
South Korean archers have dominated the team event since the sport was reintroduced at the Olympics in 1972. They have won gold medals at all eight Olympics in the women's team event, while the men's teams have won five times. This year, the mixed team event was introduced for the first time, and the Koreans look set to win the gold at this event as well. Their consistency and composure will be tough to match for even the other high-ranked teams like Mexico and the Netherlands.
The semi-finals of the mixed team event will be held today. It will be interesting to see whether any team can bring an end to the Korean domination or will they, as usual, secure the top spot.
Also read - India at Olympics 2021
