Paris Olympics: Deepika Kumari fails to deliver at the crunch yet again
Deepika lost to the world No. 2 4-6 after sharing the first four sets.
Deepika lost to the world No. 2 4-6 after sharing the first four sets.
Deepika lost to the world No. 2 4-6 after sharing the first four sets.
Paris: Veteran Deepika Kumari crumbed under pressure once again, suffering a 4-6 loss to Korea's Suhyeon Nam in the women's individual event quarterfinals to bring down curtains on India's archery campaign at the Paris Olympics here on Saturday.
Deepika had qualified for the quarterfinals after defeating Germany's Michelle Kroppen 6-4 earlier in the day.
Deepika had defeated the 19-year-old Nam in straight sets in the semifinal at the Shanghai World Cup in April en route to a silver medal, but on Saturday the Indian stalwart could not repeat that performance.
The two archers were tied 4-4 after four sets but Nam was rewarded for her consistency as she claimed the fifth set to enter the semifinals.
Deepika, who has been criticised for her below-par show in the team event, was not consistent enough as scores of six and seven in the second and fourth sets pegged her back.
The Indian 30-year-old Indian recorded 28-26 in the first set to garner two points. She then hit a 10, 6 and 9 as Nam brought things on level terms, winning the second set 28-25.
Deepika again took a lead, winning the third set 29-28 with two 10s. The Indian then scored 10, 7, 10 to lose the fourth set 27-29.
In the decider, Deepika scored 9, 9 and 9 and lost the fifth set after the Korean produced scores of 10, 9 and 10.
She had defeated Germany's Michelle Kroppen in the 1/8 elimination round. Bhajan Kaur crashed out following a loss to Indonesia's Diananda Choirunisa 6-5.
Deepika defeated her German rival 6-4 in the elimination round after recording a score of 27-24 in the first set to garner two points. The two then shot 27-27 in the second set to share the points. Deepika won the third set 26-25 for two more points.
In the fourth set, the German took two points with a 29-27 win but Deepika was already ahead by two points heading into the final set.
In the fifth set, the rivals were tied at 27-all and split the points, but Deepika walked away with a 6-4 win to make it to the quarterfinals.
In the other contest, India's Bhajan fought well but her Indonesian opponent edged her.
Choirunisa was ahead by two points with a scoreline of 4-2 by the third set. After the Indonesian won the first set 29-28 for two points, Bhajan took two points in the next to make it 27-25.
However, in the third set Choirunisa bounced back to win 28-26. In the fourth, the Indian archer did well to take one point home with a scoreline of 28-28 and as did the Indonesian, taking the scoreline to 5-3.
In the fifth and final set, Bhajan did extremely well to earn two points with the scoreline drawn at 27-27, forcing the contest into shoot-off where she shot eight while her opponent shot nine. Bhajan thus lost 5-6.