Archery world cup: Deepika passes Korean test, archers confirm four medals

PTI

Shanghai, April 26

Continuing her spirited progress post motherhood, former world No. 1 Deepika Kumari eliminated South Korean Jeon Hunyoung to storm into the semifinals, while compound archers continued to shine to assure India a fourth medal in the World Cup Stage 1 here today.

Three-time Olympian Deepika, who has slipped to world No. 142 and qualified as 30th seed in the rankings round, overcame a 1-3 deficit to defeat Jeon 6-4 (27-28 27-27 29-28 29-27 28-28) in the women’s recurve individual quarterfinal.

Having started off with an eight, Deepika lost the first set 27-28, but the 29-year-old continued to improve and levelled the second at 27-all, before taking the third (29-28) by dropping just one point.

From three-all, there was no stopping Deepika, who went on to drill in four 10s including two X (closer to centre) from six arrows to make the semis.

Deepika may have to overcome two more Korean rivals in her bid to win a first World Cup individual gold medal since the Paris Stage 3 in June 2021.

Teenager Nam Suhyeon, who qualified as the seventh seed, stands in Deepika’s way in the semis.

Going strong

The day began with Jyothi Surekha Vennam and Abhishek Verma advancing into the compound mixed team final.

The world No. 2 Indians dropped just five points to prevail over their Mexican opponents Andrea Becerra and Lot Maximo Mendez Ortiz 155-151.

They will face lower-ranked Estonia in the gold medal clash tomorrow. Jyothi is also a member of the women’s compound team, which had entered the final on Wednesday.

With Jyothi also securing a semifinals spot in the individual section on Thursday, the world No. 3 is in the hunt for a hat-trick of top podium finishes.

Overall, the Indian have qualified in four finals, all in the team events, and are in the hunt for two medals in the compound individual events – where Jyothi and Priyansh have made the semifinals.

The four events in which the Indian teams have made the gold medal round are compound men’s, women’s, mixed categories and men’s recurve.

Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Indian recurve mixed team of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara lost out to the top-seeded Korean duo of Lim and Kim Woojin in straight sets 0-6 (38-39 35-36 36-38) in the semifinal. They will fight for bronze against Mexico. There was heartbreak for other recurve archers as Tarundeep Rai made a quarterfinals exit, losing to Andres Temino 3-7 (29-26 27-29 27-27 27-30 27-28).

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