Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari staged their own versions of the Great Escape along their way into the men and women’s recurve semifinals in the Guatemala City 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 1 on Thursday. Taking part in their first meet after their wedding in June last, they become the first Indian couple to feature in respective semifinals in an edition of the World Cup.
In the men’s quarterfinals, the second-ranked Atanu Das was staring at a possible exit but, needing a 9 off the final arrow to shut the door on the Indian, Canada’s Eric Peters contrived a miss (not known yet if he missed the target or ran out of time). That allowed Atanu Das to secure a 6-4 victory (27-27, 27-27, 28-26, 28-27, 28-20) and get to the semifinals.
Earlier, Atanu Das faced a challenging moment when he trailed his 15th-seeded compatriot Pravin Ramesh Jadhav 2-4. But he shot better than his team-mate to win 6-4 (27-29, 26-26, 27-27, 28-25, 28-25) to enter the quarterfinals. The other Indians B Dhiraj and Tarundeep Rai exited after second round defeats by Daniel Castro (Spain) 5-6 via a Tie shoot-off and Angel Alvarado (Mexico) 4-6.
On a day when the redoubtable Brady Ellison (USA) lost his second round match to the Netherlands’ Gjis Broksma 2-6 (28-28, 29-29, 27-28, 28-30) and the third-ranked Florian Unruh (Germany) went down to Angel Alvarado 4-6 (27-26, 29-27, 27-28, 28-29, 26-28) in the quarterfinals, Atanu Das remains the only one of the 10 best archers from the ranking round.
“I’m feeling good, because everyone was wondering when international competition was going to start,” Atanu Das was quoted on the World Archery website. “It has started for me, and it is a good start. I’m working on myself, on my mental side and I think this is helping me a lot to perform well.”
Even as Atanu Das was staging a comeback against Pravin Jadhav, Deepika Kumari scripted a dramatic rally to beat 2012 Olympic Games silver medallist Aida Roman (Mexico) 6-5 via a single arrow shoot off. After having shot two 6s to trail her rival 3-5, Deepika found her touch in the nick of time to post a win. She had three 10s and a 9 while Aida Roman managed one 10 and three 9s.
Third-ranked Deepika Kumari was in top form thereafter in the quarterfinals against Michelle Kroppen (Germany), dominating a 6-0 verdict with eight 10s and a 9. The second-ranked left-hander Ankita Bhakat lost her quarterfinal contest with Alejandra Valencia (Mexico) 2-6 (29-28, 26-29, 26-29, 26-29).
“I had too many thoughts in my mind, and all I wanted to do was to concentrate, to focus and control my mind. I know I can do better. My first match wasn’t that good, and I feel like I didn’t give it all,” Deepika told World Archery website. “I feel so nervous still, but good too. I’m happy because I’m finally competing. We waited one-and-a-half years for this, and we’re finally here.
“I’m learning how to control my thoughts. At the same time, I’m performing better. Archery is all about your mind and thoughts. We have to know how to handle pressure. How to control the brain. My mind control, my thought control. That’s the key in archery and sports,” she said. She will be happy to have backed the words with gritty action.
World U18 Champion Komalika Bari and Madhu Vedwan lost their second round matches by identical 2-6 margins to Valentina Vasquez (Mexico) and Aida Roman (Mexico) respectively. The Indians had finished higher that the Mexicans in the ranking round.
Later, the Indian mixed team of Atanu Das and Ankita Bhakat beat its Spanish rival 6-0 in the quarterfinals but lost to Mexico’s Angel Alvarado and Ana Vasquez 4-5 (35-33, 27-39, 38-36, 36-34) via the tie shoot-off where the Mexicans won 18-16. For the bronze medal, India will meet the top-ranked United States of America, which was shocked by a 2-6 defeat by Germany.
Images: Deepika Kumari (top) and Atanu Das (Courtesy: World Archery website)
