Deepika Kumari.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Paris: Deepika Kumari once again caved in to the pressure of the Olympic Games as the veteran archer fumbled from a position of great strength to crash out in the quarterfinals of the women’s individual event at the Invalides arena here on Saturday.
Up against South Korea’s Nam Sunyeon in the quarterfinals, it looked like the 30-year-old, who has enjoyed phenomenal success at the World Cups, World Championships and Asian Championships but has found the Olympic puzzle impossible to crack, would finally decipher it when she took a 4-2 lead to put herself on the doorstep of a semifinal appearance. But history repeated itself as one bad shot cost Deepika a semifinal appearance.
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Deepika started and opened the decisive fourth set with perfect 10s but a shocking 7 in the second shot saw her lose it 27-29 to Sunyeon. With scores level 4-4, the fifth set was pretty much a shoot-off. Deepika, conjuring all her experience, shot three 9s. The 19-year-old Sunyeon was in a different league as she fired two 10s and 9 to secure her passage into the semifinals.
Sunyeon would later go on to take the silver medal, losing 3-7 to compatriot Lim Sihyeon in the gold medal bout.
There was more disappointing in Invalides as Bhajan Kaur lost a hard-fought 1/8 elimination contest 5-6 to Indonesia’s Diananda Choirnisa right after Deepika had won her opening bout 6-4 to Michelle Kroppen.
“It is disappointing. I don't know how and why I keep losing at the Olympic Games. Maybe the atmosphere gets to me. It's the weight of own expectations. Those were bad two shots and I feel like I have gifted her the match,” distraught Deepika said after her defeat, struggling to come to terms in what could possibly be her last Olympics.