London: Indian archers’ dismal show came to an end at the London Olympics on Wednesday after world No. 1 and chief medal hope Deepika Kumari bowed out of the women’s individual event having suffered an upset defeat against Amy Oliver of Great Britain in the opening round.
In what came as the biggest setback in India’s Olympic campaign, a completely off-colour Deepika proved to be no match for her British rival, who easily pocketed the encounter 6-2, here at the Lord’s cricket ground.
In individual events, which is decided on best of five sets (three arrows each), one who wins a set irrespective of the margin gets two points.
Even as both the archers ended up scoring a total of 104 points each, Oliver managed to win three sets to advance to the next round.
The event was held under overcast conditions and the cold did not seem to suit Deepika, who paid the price for some poor shots. Deepika blamed the strong winds for the debacle.
“The wind was swirling and swirling much faster than I thought. I just could not adjust to the conditions,” she said.
“I am disappointed. It is my first Olympics so I wanted to get further, but there will be many more. Will practise more, become more confident and hopefully do better,” Deepika added.
The 18-year-old Ranchi girl could bag just one set, and that too mainly because of the rare error made by her opponent, who ended up shooting a four in one of her three chances during the second set.
The Indian contingent was expected to return with a few medals and many had even gone to predict a historic gold medal for the team. But none of them actually performed to his or her true potential.
They failed in both group events and the trend continued in the individual events, too. (PTI)
