The Indian women archers made a quick turnaround after the setback in the team event at the Rio Olympics 2016. It was Laishram Bombayla Devi who first dazzled on Wednesday following which the former World No. 1 Deepika Kumari put a performance to remember to make it through to the Round of 16 in women’s individual recurve event at the Sambadrome.
The 31-year-old Bombayla Devi had looked pretty consistent and determined all week. Oozing confidence, she got past the 93rd ranked Laurence Baldauff with consummate ease, dismissing the Austrian 6-2.
The Indian, however, took a bit of time to settle into the match and thus conceded the first set to her opponent. But being the experienced archer that she is, the World No. 69 did not falter anymore and clinched the next three sets, going below 9 just once in the nine shots she had to make.
Riding on that momentum, the Indian veteran shocked the World No. 10 Lin Shih-Chia of Chinese Taipei 6-2 in her Round of 32 match in another stunning display. The Taipei archer had been part of the team that grabbed the women’s team bronze just a couple of days back. Needless to say that for Bombayla Devi, this was indeed a huge win, something that was required to lift her spirits after the team ouster.
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Shih-Chia looked surprisingly listless and the Indian was able to capitalize on it readily. Bombayla Devi took the first two sets with a score of 27 each but the third set saw a slight dip in her form as she lost it 26-27.
It was heartening to see her storm back to take the fourth set by virtue of a 28 (10, 9, 9) that awarded her the win. She will next face the 18th ranked Alejandra Valencia of Mexico for a place in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Deepika Kumari shines on a rainy afternoon
India’s blue-eyed archer Deepika Kumari took the stage much later in the day, on a rainy afternoon at Rio. And she put up a world-class performance which was a far cry from the nervous girl who sprayed a series of 7s during the team event.
The World No.12 has been presented with a tough draw and it only needed such an inspiring act from her to get the wins. In her opener, she faced off against the World No. 8 Kristine Esebua of Georgia, whom she edged past 6-4 in a thrilling encounter.
The 22-year-old hit as many as eight 10s to the Georgian’s seven which helped her under pressure. After the Ranchi girl grabbed the first set 27, the two split points at 29 apiece.
The next set was a flawless 30/30 from India’s golden girl and she went into the lead once more.
However, Esebua snatched the fourth set 29-27 to enforce a fifth set where they again shared points before Deepika emerged the winner.
In her 1/16 elimination round, she had a slow start against the 17th ranked Italian Guendalina Sartori and lost the opener 24-27. But the youngster showed her true character right after that as she captured the next three sets with scores of 29-26, 28-26, 28-27.
It was the last set that brought back flashes of the old, fearless Deepika who would show tremendous resolve when the going gets tough. In a tense, even fourth set, she needed 10 to win the set as well as the match after the Italian had surged ahead to 27 after three shots.
Anything less than a 10 would have stretched the match further but Deepika Kumari came up with a 10 right on the X to progress into the pre-quarter-finals where she will meet the World No. 2 Tan Ya-Ting.
