Tokyo: Indian archer Atanu Das advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s individual recurve event defeating two-time Olympic champion Oh Jin Hyek in a thrilling one-arrow shoot-off on Thursday. Following a 5-5 draw at the end of the five rounds, Atanu shot a perfect 10 compared to the Korean Hyek’s 9 to seal the deal.
It became the biggest comeback of Atanu’s career after he was passed over by the team management and lost his spot in the mixed team on the first day of the competition to compatriot Pravin Jadhav.
But that didn’t deter the Kolkata-born lad. After a one-point loss in the first round, Atanu made a brilliant comeback to split the next two rounds consecutively at 27 each. The turning point of the encounter came in the fourth round when Atanu shot a perfect 10 in his third arrow of the round compared to Hyek’s 6.
Atanu Das pulls out the huge 🔟 in a shoot-off to upset London 2012 @Olympics Champion Oh Jin Hyek! What a shot! 🙌#ArcheryatTokyo #archery pic.twitter.com/OVlWxTsBwF
— World Archery (@worldarchery) July 29, 2021
In the final round, Atanu shot 10, 9, 9 to once again split at 28-28 to force a shoot-off. Earlier on the day, Atanu had defeated Chinese Taipei’s Deng Yu-Cheng in a five-setter to advance to the second round. The match witnessed a tough fight as both the archers won two sets each to tie the match at 4-4.
In the final round, Atanu shot 10, 9, 9. Yu-Cheng buckled under pressure to shot 7 in his final attempt to bow out. With both Jadav and Tarundeep Rai out from the individual events, it all depends on Atanu and his World No.1 wife Deepika Kumari, who also progressed to the Round of 16.
While Kumari will play her quarterfinal match against Perova Ksenia of ROC on July 30, Japanese Takaharu Furukawa awaits Atanu on July 31.
