On Sunday, Star archer Deepika Kumari regained the world no. 1 ranking as she bagged a hat-trick of gold medals as India made an unprecedented clean sweep at the World Cup Stage 3 for a perfect build-up to the Tokyo Olympics in less than a month’s time.
The hustle that led to hat-trick
Korea was absent during this world cup saga, the Indians faced little challenge to win the women’s individual, team and mixed pair events with Deepika being a constant player in each of them, playing back-to-back four matches in less than five hours.
India topped the medals tally with four gold medals as Abhishek Verma, on Saturday, had secured the solitary top medal in the compound section.
Indian Archery Team
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The journey of India securing the gold
India’s competitive rush began with the women’s team of Deepika, Ankita Bhakat and Komalika Bari notching up a win over Mexico, which helped the team wipe off the disappointment of missing Olympic qualification last week.
Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Komalika-Bari
Eyeing their first-ever gold medal together, Deepika and husband Atanu Das, who are India’s best medal hope in archery in the Olympics, bounced back from a 0-2 deficit to down the Netherland’s Sjef van den Berg and Gabriela Schloesser 5-3.
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Brief about Deepika’s game
Deepika defeated 17th ranked Russian Elena Osipova 6-0 to cap a perfect three out of three in the recurve women’s section, her fourth individual World Cup gold medal.
Deepika Kumari
The World No 3 had won it in Guatemala City 2021, Salt Lake City 2018 and Antalya 2012. Overall, she has nine gold medals, 12 silver and seven bronze medals in the World Cup.
After the win Deepika said that-
“This is the first time I’ve won all three medals in a World Cup. I’m really happy but at the same time, I’ve to continue improving as we have some very, very important competitions lined up.”
Archer Deepika Kumari
Adding to it she also said that-
“We do not have any Olympic medal in archery, so it’s really important that we keep improving and keep up the show.”
Less than a month from now, the Indian archers will be chasing their elusive Olympic medal dream among the best in the world. In the semi-final, Deepika used all her experience to bag two spectacular opening sets to lead 4-0 against 20-year-old Ana Vazquez of Mexico before securing a final and amazing 6-2 win.
Star Archer Deepika Kumari
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Deepika and her husband Atanu, the ‘power- couple’ in the match
In the mixed pair final, fifth-seeded Atanu and Deepika complemented each other well as the latter came into her own after a sluggish start and they also expressed that this is the pre-anniversary and best advanced gift.
Deepika Kumari with Husband Archer Atanu Das
The two got married after a two-year courtship and the couple would be celebrating their first wedding anniversary on June 30.
Atanu said after the win that-
“It feels amazing. First time we won the final together, it feels so happy, It feels we are made for each other. But at the ground we are not a couple but like just other competitors, we motivate, support and back each other.”
Her last mixed pair final appearance was also with Atanu in Antalya World Cup 2016. The duo had lost to Korea.
Brief about Indian women’s team against Mexican team
The Indian women’s team’s graceful shooting put pressure on the Mexican team of London 2012 silver-medallist Aida Roman, Alejandra Valencia and Ana Vazquez.
They shot a disappointing 52 to lose the second set by three points. Leading 3-1, the Indians had another round of consistent shooting with a 55 but the Mexicans failed to equalise and lost the third set by one point to suffer a second successive defeat this year.
