"Superstar": Indians hail Atanu Das after he defeats two-time Olympic champion from South Korea in archery shootout

By Godwin Mathew
Modified Jul 29, 2021 09:18 IST
India's Atanu Das qualifies for the quarterfinal of the Olympics [Image Credits:World Archery/Twitter]
India's Atanu Das qualifies for the quarterfinal of the Olympics [Image Credits:World Archery/Twitter]

Atanu Das made a great start to Day 6 of India's Day Olympic campaign at the 2021 Summer Games. The archer first faced Chinese Taipei's Deng Yu-Cheng. He pulled off a thrilling 6-4 win to set up a 1/16 match against South Korea's OH Jin Hyek.

The South Korean had won the gold medal at the Rio Olympics and is one of the better archers on the circuit right now. However, it wasn't a problem for Atanu, who thrived under pressure to take the game to a shoot-off, eventually winning the match.

Das is the only male Indian archer to advance into the 1/8 eliminations at the Olympics 2021. The husband-and-wife duo will be facing tough opponents in their respective pre-quarterfinals. However, they look more determined than ever to help India win its first-ever Olympic medal in archery.

Atanu starts Day 6 of India's Day Olympic campaign in style

The Indian won his first match 6-4, but his next opponent was not an easy one. Das faced one of the best archers in Jin Hyek in his second match today and took the game to the shoot-off. The last set was absolutely thrilling as both archers went neck and neck, which resulted in the match going into the shoot-off.

With hopes of making it to the pre-quarters, Das pulled his arrow in the shoot-off to score a fantastic 10. This helped him make his way into the pre-quarters of the Olympics. He will be up against Japan's Takaharu Furukawa next.

How the match against Jin Hyek turned out

Both players were relentless in their bid to secure a pre-quarterfinals spot at the Tokyo Olympics. Jin Hyek won the first set. However, Atanu started to pick up his game right after as the archers shared the spoils for the next two games. Atanu showed his true grit in set four and won it by an overwhelming margin in an otherwise tight match.

The fifth set failed to set decide a winner as the match went into a nail-biting shootout. Jin Hyek went first to score an impressive 9 but was outdone by Atanu's precision. The Indian scored a perfect 10 to bag an entry into the pre-quarterfinals.

Twitter reaction to a thrilling Atanu Das performance

Fans took to Twitter to express their love and appreciation for the fantastic performance put in by Atanu Das.

Also Read: India at Olympics 2021 archery: Historic win for India as Atanu Das beats 2012 Olympic gold medallist Jin-Hyek to clinch pre-quarterfinals berth

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Edited by Diptanil
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