Indian Archery Wrap: Deepika Kumari Enters Pre-Quarters, Jadhav & Rai Eliminated

DEEPIKA KUMARI WINS BOTH MATCHES 2020 TOKYO OLYMPICS ARCHERY WRAP

Deepika Kumari has advanced to the next round after recording two wins on Wednesday. 

(Photo: PTI)

World number one women's archer Deepika Kumari has entered the pre-quarter final in the individual event, winning two matches on Wednesday at the Tokyo Olympics.

In the men's draw though there was disappointment for two archers with Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai getting eliminated on Day 5 of the Olympics.

Jadhav's campaign was brought to an end in the second round even though he pulled off a major upset in his opener, defeating the world number two Galsan Bazarzhapov 29-27, 28-27 and 27-24

In her final match of the day, Deepika beat Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez of the USA 6-4 in a windy Round-of-32 match at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field. She lost the first set as she registered a score of 25 (7 and two 9s), while Jennifer scored 26 (9, 10 and 7) to take a 2-0 lead.

In the second set, Deepika was able to make a comeback with 8 and two 10s against Jennifer's two 9s and 7, bringing the scores level at 2-2.

Deepika took the third set with 10, 9 and 8, compared to Jennifer's 8, 10 and 7. With a 4-2 lead in the match, one expected Deepika to wrap the match easily. But Jennifer made a fight-back with 9 and two 8s, making the score level at 4-4. Deepika, on the other hand, had two 9s and 6 against her name.

In the decider set, Deepika began with two 9s and finished with 8 to score 26. Jennifer began with two 8s and needed a ten to defeat Deepika. But her final arrow went for 9, giving Deepika a close victory.

Earlier in the day, Deepika had easily beaten Bhutan's Karma 6-0 in the Round of 64. The 27-year-old maintained her lead from the start till the end, scoring 26, 26 and 27 compared to Karma's low scores of 23, 23 and 24 in three sets.

While Jadhav started his individual campaign with a massive win, in the next round he faced USA's Brady Ellison and was defeated with a 6-0 scoreline.

In the first set, Ellison started off with a 9 and 10. Jadhav managed to hit 9 and 8. Ellison shot 9 on his final arrow. Jadhav had a 10 on his final arrow, but it was too late in the 28-27 set won by Ellison.

In the second set, Jadhav began well with a 10 and 9, eclipsing the 8 and 10 shots by Ellison. On the final arrow, Jadhav scored 7, giving Ellison a small opening. The American shot 9 on the final arrow, wrapping the second set 27-26.

Jadhav needed impressive scores in his final set to challenge Ellison. But two 8s followed by a 7 on the final arrow weren't sufficient against World No. 1 Ellison's 8 and two 9s.

The 25-year-old Jadhav has been the most impressive amongst the Indian men's archers at the Tokyo Olympics finishing higher in the singles qualification round, ahead of Atanu Das and Tarundeep Rai