The round went till a one arrow shoot-off where Deepika Kumari scored 10 as a response to Russia's 7. However, the Indian will now face a tough challenge against South Korea's An San, whom she lost in the Test event.
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World Number 1, Deepika Kumari has moved ahead to the quarter-finals of Tokyo Olympics, after beating ROC’s Ksenia Perova in the pre-quarterfinals. Deepika had her eye on the target from the first arrow itself, as she scored 9 + 10 + 9, taking her total to 28. In response to that, Perova scored 9 + 9 + 7, taking her total to 25.
Deepika Kumari won the first set and she took 2 points. The second round was also dominated by Perova as Deepika’s last arrow if the set hit 7. Deepika needed a 9 to win that, however, a misdirected shot landed on 7. The match became a nailbiter from that moment on, Deepika and Perova went into a set tie in the fourth round. Deepika Kumari lost her fifth set, the score settled at 5-5. As they say in archery, you take a long while to shoot the arrow, you falter. Her heart rate touched 160, and it reflected her nerves. Shooting a 7, Deepika lost the set to make it 5-5.
In the one arrow shoot-off, the Russian scored a 7. She knew she was well off the mark, and World Number 1 grabbed that opportunity and scored a perfect 10.
Bigger tests will await Deepika Kumari on the final day of the women’s archery event. Having reached the quarterfinal, she will face off against South Korea’s An San. This could be the first massive challenge for Deepika. An San is a 20-year-old from South Korea who topped the qualifying rounds in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a score of 680 out of 720 possible points. This was already an Olympic record.
She surpassed the previous Games record by seven points, which was set by Lina Herasymenko of Ukraine (673). An San took to archery at a young age. According to an interview by Olympics.com, An San took to archery at school itself. But, in the school that she was studying, the archery team consisted of only boys. After several persuasions from her parents to the authorities, she got into the team.
Before the Tokyo Olympics, she participated in the World Cup in Berlin which she won. The remarkable thing was that it was on her debut. In the Test event before the Tokyo Olympics 2020, An San defeated Deepika Kumari in straight sets. Heading into the contest, the Indian will be gunning for revenge against the youngster. Deepika is the No.1 ranked archer in the world and she has been in good form. But, with the South Korean challenge now increasing, Deepika Kumari finds herself in a vulnerable position.
