PARIS: If two bad rounds haunted Manu Bhaker in the morning in Chateauroux, it was a case of two bad shots for Deepika Kumari in archery. The 30-year-old, competing at her fourth consecutive Olympics, was looking to put all past disappointments to rest as she took on South Korea’s 19-year-old Suhyeon Nam in the quarterfinals of the individual recurve archery.
Deepika was close, fighting the prodigy tooth and nail, but just when it mattered, the inner-circle of the board which measures 12.2 cm eluded her. She lost to the eventual silver medallist 4-6 and her dreams of a first Olympic medal were shattered, maybe for one last time.
A 33rd place in London 2012, ninth at Rio Games, eighth in Tokyo and now another disappointment as she ended seventh. It could have easily been a top 4 finish, even a historic medal could just be in the offing, but then the pressure of the situation got the better of her.
"Yes, this was my best chance so far (to win an Olympics medal). But I fired two bad shots (one 6 pointer and a 7). I felt like I gifted her the match and I don't know why I always lose at the Olympics," she told reporters trying her best to hide the disappointment at the Invalides here. "I'll continue to work hard and I have not set any timelines."
Against the young Korean, who was making her debut, the vastly experienced Deepika took the first set with three arrows (9, 10, 9) that hovered around the inner circle. Suheyon fired two 8s after starting with a 10 as Deepika raised the expectations of the Indian fans. But the second set was a different story. The Korean opened with a 9 and Deepika also found a 10.
The Korean then fired a 10 and Deepika, who was racing against the clock, crashed down with a six-point shot. That was a big cushion for the Korean, who claimed the second set after taking her tally to an unbeatable 28. Deepika was back in form in the third set firing two 10s to take the lead.
The Korean finished with a tally of 28 points and the Indian found a perfect 10 to win the set 29-28 and take a 4-2 lead. From then on, Deepika found it difficult to handle pressure. She hit two 10s with her last six arrows while the Korean had four. After surrendering her advantage with another bad shot that got her just 7 points, in the fourth, Deepika couldn't hit the inner circle.
The Korean showed great composure to score 19 points with her first two shots. Deepika responded with 9s that saw her trail 18-19. Suheyon showed great composure and capped her comeback with another 10 with her last shot and began the celebrations as it took the match beyond Deepika's reach.
Paris Olympics: Heartbreak for India as Nishant and Manu miss out on medals on Day 8