Deepika had an easy outing as her world number 193 opponent from Bhutan failed to give any challenge under windy conditions.
Follow Us
India’s Deepika Kumari defeated Karma of Bhutan in round of 32 and booked a place in the last 16 of women’s individual archery event. The World No. 1 archer sailed into the second round with a comfortable 6-0 win over lower-ranked Karma. She keeps Indian medal hopes alive at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
Deepika had an easy outing. Her world number 193 opponent from Bhutan failed to give any challenge under windy conditions at the Yumenoshima Park. Karma was the flag bearer of Bhutan during the opening ceremony. She had poor scores of 23, 23 and 24 in the third set where she managed a 10.
The Indian ace also had a slow start. She scored 26 each in the first two sets before she picked up with a 27 to seal the deal. Deepika will face the winner of the match between Anastasia Pavlova of Ukraine and Jenniver Mucino-Fernandez of USA in her next round.
Earlier, India’s Pravin Jadhav lost against Brady Ellison of USA 0-6 in the last 16 and got knocked out of men’s individual archery event. Archer Tarundeep Rai also disappointed when he was knocked out by Itay Shanny of Israel 6-5 in the round of 16.
This was the second successive round two exit for three-time Olympian Rai who had made his Games debut at Athens 2004. In the 2012 London Olympics too, Rai had lost in the second round.
The 37-year-old Army man, had a thrilling comeback from 6-4 to win over Oleksii Hunbin of Ukraine in the first round. He once again showed remarkable poise as he bounced back to lead 5-3 from a 0-2 deficit.
Rai needed a tie in the fifth set to move into last-16. Rai faltered and Shanny won the set by two points. He drilled in two 10s and a nine, as against the Indian’s sequence of 9-8-9. A perfect 10 for Rai eluded as he started the proceedings in the shoot-off with a 9, while Shanny sealed the deal with a 10.
Rai got severely affected by wind as he shot a poor seven to lose the first set by four points. He levelled the match 2-2 by winning the second set by a slender margin of one point. A series of six 9s by Shanny meant that Rai was eliminated.
