Archery World Cup Stage 3: Deepika Kumari storms into semifinals, recurve archer Atanu Das crashes out

India’s top-ranked women recurve archer Deepika Kumari stormed into the semifinals of the Archery World Cup Stage 3 individual event in Paris on Wednesday.

After getting a bye for the first two rounds, Deepika Kumari got the better of Italy’s Elena Tonetta 6-0 (25-23, 27-25, 26-25) in the third round of the Archery World Cup. She advanced to the pre-quarterfinals, where she beat Charline Schwarz of Germany 7-3 (26-26, 25-26, 28-27, 28-27, 26-22) to set up a quarterfinal clash with Aida Roman of Mexico.

Read: Indian recurve archery women lose to Colombia, Tokyo Olympics 2020 berth slips away

Deepika Kumari then breezed past Aida Roman, the London 2012 Olympic silver medallist 6-0 (29-23, 28-26, 28-26).

Deepika Kumari will meet Ana Vazquez of Mexico in the semifinals of the Archery World Cup on Sunday.

Given her top-ranked Indian status, Deepika Kumari lived up to her name while Ankita Bhagat, Komalika Bari and Madhu Vedwan fell on the wayside. Ankita Bhagat, after getting a bye in the first two rounds, beat France’s Angeline Cohendet 7-1 (27-26, 29-26, 27-27, 27-24) in the third round to set up a meeting with Russia’s Elena Osipova in the pre-quarterfinal of the Archery World Cup.

Elena Osipova, ranked 17 in the world, was too hot for Ankita Bhagat to handle as the latter went down fighting 2-6 (27-28, 27-29, 30-29, 27-29) to bow out of the individual events.

Also read: Tokyo Olympics: The sport in which India is likely to win its first-ever Olympic Medal - Archery

Later, there was an all-Indian clash in the second round of the Archery World Cup, with Komalika Bari and Madhu Vedwan locking horns. Komalika Bari got the better of her compatriot 7-3 (27-24, 28-28, 26-26, 27-27, 29-27). The five-setter went on to show that both Indians were equally matched, but it was Komalika Bari’s two ‘X’ shots that gave her an edge in the fifth set.

However, Komalika Bari couldn’t keep up the good work as she went down to Germany’s Ines De Velasco in the third round. The Indian lost 4-6 (27-24, 25-26, 26-28, 30-29, 26-27). After winning two sets apiece, even though Komalika Bari scored a 10 with her first shot, she only managed 8 in the next two. The German was consistent with three 9 pointers, which handed her the win.

Tokyo Olympics-bound men falter at Archery World Cup

In what was supposed to be a good practice ground for the recurve men's archers, the Indian Olympics-bound contingent of Atanu Das, Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav came a cropper against a superior field in the Archery World Cup.

Tarundeep Rai beat Italy’s Marco Galiazzo 6-4 in the first round and got the better of Great Britain’s Woodgate James 6-4 in the second round of the Archery World Cup. Woodgate James is ranked 12 in the world while Tarundeep Rai is ranked 60.

The win, however, didn’t seem to do any good to his confidence as Tarundeep lost to Virgin Islands’ Nicholas D’Amour 10-9 (27-27, 28-27, 29-30, 28-29, 30-29) in a marathon encounter. After both Tarundeep and D’Amour were tied on 5 points each after five sets, Tarundeep could only manage a 9 in the shootout while D’Amour scored a 10.

Also read: Deepika Kumari: From poverty and hunger to gold medals and fame

Atanu Das, who won gold at the Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Guatemala City, saw off a challenge from Mohammad Ahmed Rubel of Bangladesh 7-1 in the first round. He then blanked Russia’s Vitalii Popov and Belgium’s Senna Roos 6-0 in the second and third rounds, respectively.

Atanu Das, however, ran out of steam in the fourth round, losing to USA’s Jack Williams 6-5 (28-30, 30-28, 28-27, 26-26, 28-30). With both players tied on 5 points each, Atanu Das could only manage an 8 in the shootout while Jack Williams shot 9.

Indian archers in recurve team events are still in the fray at the Archery World Cup Stage 3.