Archery World Cup: Atanu Das, Deepika Kumari guarantee India of a medal; Abhishek Verma in semis 

Star archery couple Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari assured India its first medal from the continuing World Cup Stage 3 by getting into the ultimate of the blended pair occasion with a comeback 5-3 win over Spain right here on Thursday.
Atanu and Deepika, who’re India’s greatest medal hopes within the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, had been at their greatest to make their first ultimate collectively the place they’ll face the Netherlands within the summit conflict on Sunday.
World quantity three Deepika, who gained the World Cup Stage 1 in Guatemala City in April, can be within the hunt for a second medal, having superior to the person semi-final for the second successive time this yr.
Ace compound archer Abhishek Verma additionally stored India in hunt for an additional medal by advancing to the semi-finals of the person part within the night session with a 146-146 (10-9) shoot-off win over Martin Laursen of Denmark.
Returning to motion after virtually two years, the two-time World Cup winner Verma, who had certified as eleventh seed, shot two excellent 10s together with one X within the shoot-off to arrange a last-four conflict towards Anton Bulaev of Russia.
In the recurve blended semi-final, Atanu and Deepika, who had been ranked fifth within the qualification to get a primary spherical bye, misplaced the primary set by two factors towards Daniel Castro and Ines De Velasco, who shot three excellent 10s together with two closest to the centre (X) from 4 arrows.
But the Indian pair upped their tempo with constant taking pictures (9-9-9-10) to carry the match on a fair keel with a slender one-point win within the second set.
Both shot 37-37 for a 3-all within the third set earlier than the Indian couple confirmed their class to drill three excellent 10s and one 9 to seal the problem within the fourth set.
This shall be their first blended pair ultimate collectively as they gear up for the Tokyo Olympics in lower than a month’s time.
“We really shot very well. I’m very happy. We wanted to win, because I’ve never been to the mixed team final (with Atanu). I really wanted that,” Deepika, who final made an look within the blended pair ultimate within the 2016 World Cup, stated after the win.
Talking about their chemistry, Deepika, who bought married to the India primary Atanu in June 2020 after a two-year courtship, stated: “You can say we’re a special team. We don’t have any problem with communication and understanding each other. But we’re also professional archers.”
The eight-time world champion Deepika has 5 silver and three bronze medals within the blended pair occasion however she is but to win a gold.
Atanu and Deepika began off on a spectacular notice with a straight set 6-0 win over twelfth ranked Great Britain within the spherical of 16. In the quarters, they bought the higher of upper ranked USA by an equivalent 6-0 margin.
In the ladies’s compound particular person part, Jyothi Surekha Vennam made a quarterfinal exit shedding to Andrea Becerra of Mexico 143-147.