Jakarta: India’s struggling recurve archers were in for more shock with Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das suffering an upset defeat at the hands of lower-ranked Mongolia in the Asian Games here via shootout.
The 4-5 loss in the mixed team quarterfinals left the Indian squad shell-shocked as Deepika yet again floundered in pressure situation, hitting a seven in the second shot of the shoot-off, which led to their ouster.
Meanwhile, the compound team of Abhishek Verma and Jyoti Surekaha moved to the quarterfinal with a 155-147 win over Iraq’s Fatima Saad Mahmood and Eshaq Ibrahim Mohammed.
World No.7 Deepika and World No.19 Atanu were favourites against the Mongolians. However, they fell behind 0-2 to the 94th ranked Bishindee Urantungalag and Otgobbold Baatarkhuya. The Indian team clawed back by taking the next two sets but the Mongolians forced a shoot-off by snatching the fourth.
I simply won’t make any excuses. I have everything at my disposal and yet I have failed to deliver
Atanu Das
In the deciding shoot-off, both teams found 10s in the first shot. The Mongolians found nine on the second while Deepika shot a seven. The defeat left Deepika shattered as he she sat on the pavement outside the stadium, her hands covering her face in dejection.
“This team just won a World Cup. They are not bad but I really have no idea what strikes them in the multi-sport event,” coach Sawaiyan Manjhi, who himself looked distraught, said. “I also have to take the blame. I could not prepare my archers to be consistent.”
Blaming himself for their disastrous outing, Atanu admitted that he has not been able to perform at the big stage despite having everything at his disposal.
While Manjhi had said the team did not come well prepared, Atanu called it a psychological issue. “Who said we have not come with best preparation. It’s not like this. We came here 4-5 days before and there is no problem. I don’t want to give any excuse. Something is missing and it keeps happening. Every time new mistakes come to fore,” Atanu stated.
“For me it’s psychological, I would say. When I need to hit 10, I am getting 9. Half a millimetre is making all the difference. And that’s the game,” he added.
