BHIM-UPI TOISA 2019: Deepika Kumari, Abhishek Verma named archers of the year

NEW DELHI: Deepika Kumari and Abhishek Verma have been declared as the best archers for 2019 at the Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) 2019, powered by BHIM-UPI. The awards were given away at a glittering ceremony to mark the fourth edition of TOISA.
Deepika struck gold and secured an Olympic quota for India in the women's individual recurve event at the Continental Qualification Tournament (Asian Championships) in Bangkok in November 2019.

Deepika put up a flawless show to defeat Nur Afisa Abdul Halil of Malaysia 7-2, Zahra Nemati (Iran) 6-4 and local girl Narisara Khunhiranchaiyo 6-2 to make the last four, thereby securing an Olympic quota. In July 2019, Deepika settled for a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games test event after going down to 18-year-old Korean An San in straight sets.
Abhishek meanwhile teamed up with Rajat Chauhan and Aman Saini in the Indian men's compound team to defeat Russia 235-230 in the bronze medal playoff at the Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey held in May 2019.