Archery World Cup: Olympic-bound Deepika Kumari Enters Recurve Semifinals

Deepika Kumari Archery World Cup: Former world number one, Deepika Kumari has stormed into the semi-finals in the recurve section of the Archery World Cup stage 1 on Thursday.

Fellow archer and her husband, Atanu Das too secured a place in the semi-finals. Kumari and Das will compete in the recurve mixed pair quarterfinals. Third-seeded Kumari silenced German archer Michelle Kroppen at the Sports Complex Los Arcos in Guatemala City. She will next compete against Alejandra Valencia of Mexico in the last four.

These four recurve women will shoot for gold at the first stage of the 2021 Hyundai #Archery World Cup this Saturday. 👇🥇🏹

🇺🇸 Mackenzie Brown
🇷🇴 Madalina Amaistroaie
🇮🇳 Deepika Kumari
🇲🇽 Alejandra Valencia#ArcheryWorldCup #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/SEVqBcoaPe

— World Archery (@worldarchery) April 22, 2021

Kumari defeated Kelsey Lard of the USA 6-0 in round two. Further, she overcame London Olympics silver medalist, Aida Roman of Mexico, in the shoot-off 6-5 (10-9).

Kumari has already assured an Olympics quota in archery back in 2019. And, both Das and Kumari are now the highest remaining seeds in their respective individual categories.

Deepika Kumari Archery World Cup Entry is excellent news for Indian Sport fans

Indian couple Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari will shoot for individual golds this weekend in Guatemala City! 🔥🇮🇳#ArcheryWorldCup #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/AP8uALA0WY

— World Archery (@worldarchery) April 22, 2021

Kumari, a top-ranked woman archer,  is a rickshaw driver’s daughter. Kumari remains to be the ace archer from Jharkhand and is a big bet for bringing home a medal this year. She got married to fellow archer Atanu Das in Ranchi in a low-key ceremony that took place last year. Kumari is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and has won three silver medals and two bronze medals in the world cup finals. Together, Kumari and Das have won a world cup mixed title in 2013. Read how archery happened for Deepika Kumari here

Meanwhile, another archer, second seed Ankita Bhakat lost to Alejanra 6-2 in the last eight.

The Olympic-bound Indian archers started the campaign for the first stage of the World Cup on April 19, the first tournament for the seniors since the pandemic started. They will also compete in three back-to-back World Cups before the Tokyo Games, scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8 this year. The last qualification tour is slated to be held in Paris from June 21-27.

Feature Image Credit: Alcheron