Deepika Kumari's possible path to final of Olympics 2021: Opponents, Analysis and predictions

Indian Archer Deepika Kumari had an average start to her Olympics 2021 journey. Deepika finished her first day on 9th position in the women's individual recurve event which was dominated by the South Korean archers.

Deepika finished fourth with 334 points in the first half. However, she slipped further to ninth position with a score of 663 by the end of the 12th round.

India🇮🇳 begins its #Tokyo2020 journey with @ImDeepikaK finishing 9th with a score of 663 in the Women’s recurve archery ranking round. South Korea’s 🇰🇷 An San created a new #Olympic record with a score of 680.Send in your wishes for #TeamIndia with #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/0QKAImz6YI

— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) July 23, 2021

Let's looks at Deepika probable competitors ahead:

With her ninth position finish, Deepika will be up against Bhutan's Karma in 1st round of the Women's Individual Recurve Archery event. It will be held on 27th July. Karma shot her personal best of 616 on the first day of the Tokyo Olympics.

Deepika will face off against USA's Mucino-Fernandez Jennifer in the pre- quarterfinals in the women's recurve event. This is Jennifer's first Olympics.

Moving into the competition, Deepika will square off against Perova Ksenia of the ROC in the quarterfinals. Perova finished just ahead of Deepika with 664 points.

Walking into the competition, she will be up against South Korean An San. Deepika lost to San in straight sets during their exchange for an Olympic Test event at the same venue in 2019.

An San wins women’s qualifying with 680 points, setting an individual @Olympics record and breaking the team record with the Korean women’s squad, too!#ArcheryatTokyo pic.twitter.com/X6uTdALGJq

— World Archery (@worldarchery) July 23, 2021

An San set an olympic record to win the women's ranking round of the Tokyo Olympics with 680 out of 720 points. All three South Koreans shattered the previous Olympic record score of 673, set by Lina Herasymenko of Ukraine in 1996.

In her semifinals, it might be Mexican Valencia Alejandra taking on Deepika. Valencia finished 4th in the charts with 674 points on the first day of the Olympics.

Then in the finals Deepika might face South Korean Jang Minhee. Mihnee was among the three top South Korean heavyweights who aced on the first day of the competition. Jang M finished second with 677 points in the inaugural recurve event in Tokyo.

Women's individual recurve event

On the first day of the women's individual recurve event An San - 680, Jang Minhee - 677, Chaeyoung Kang - 675 bagged the first three spots. After slipping to 14th position in the middle, the world No.1 (Deepika) fought back.

She climbed up to fourth spot at one point but eventually slipped again to eighth spot. By the end of the first day, she stood in the ninth slot and will now be up against Bhutan's Karma during her next outing in Tokyo, in the women's individual recurve event.