Even as the windy conditions affected several archers, World No. 1 Deepika Kumari kept her focus to win two matches and reach the third round of the women’s individual event at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav, the two Indians in action in the men’s individual event, got past the first hurdle before bowing out in the second round.
Deepika recorded a comprehensive 6-0 (26-23, 26-23, 27-24) victory over Bhutan’s Karma in the first round. The Indian mostly scored 8s and 9s, apart from a 10 in the final set, to cruise into the second round.
The 27-year-old Deepika, competing in her third Olympics, used all her experience and skill to overcome the challenge of 18-year-old American Jeniffer Mucino-Fernandez 6-4 (25-26, 28-25, 27-25, 24-25, 26-25).
Deepika shot with precision to nail 10s on her last two shots of the second set and drew parity.
Even as Mucino-Fernandez's performance fluctuated, Deepika remained consistent and went up 4-2 by taking the third set.
However, a 6 in the fourth set saw Mucino-Fernandez pull level at 4.
In the decider, Deepika scored 9, 9 and 8. The American, who had two 8s, needed a 10 to force a shoot-off, but managed only 9 to lose the contest.
Tarundeep, figuring in his third Olympics, found his rhythm late in the contest to pip Ukrainian Oleksii Hunbin 6-4 in the first round. He, however, lost the shoot-off to Israel's Itay Shanny 6-5 in the next.
With the scores tied at 5, Rai shot a 9 while Shanny produced a 10.
Pravin shocked World No. 2 Galsan Bazarzhapov of Russia 6-0 before losing 0-6 to World No. 1 Brady Ellison of the USA.
Pravin dealt only with 9s and 10s despite the tough weather conditions to tame the Russian in straight sets.
Against Ellison, the World champion and Olympic medallist, the Indian lost the first two sets by a point before slipping in the third and bowing out of contention.
