Another Olympics, another heartbreak for India’s Deepika Kumari.
The world number one archer’s quest for an Olympic medal ended in heartbreak for the third time as she surrendered tamely to Korean top seed An San in straight sets in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The fancied Indian misfired three 7s in a row after drilling in as many 10s in succession to snuff out any chance of a comeback after being 0-2 down in the opening set.
An, who had a perfect opening set of 30, closed it out despite shooting in the red-circle thrice in succession (7-8-9) in second and third sets.
“I am not sure what happened. I tried hard but I could not perform to my own expectations,” Deepika, who shot a pathetic four 7s from seven arrows, said after her loss.
“I feel very sad, because I did well in the last two World Cups. I had high expectations but I could not start off well,” she admitted.
“It was not a hard match at all, but I could not perform to my potential and she had it easy,”
Deepika’s husband Atanu Das is the only Indian left in medal contention after his stunning shoot-off victory over two-time Olympic champion Oh Jin Hyek.
In his last-16 match slated on Saturday, Das will face home favourite Takaharu Furukawa, an individual Silver medallist at the 2012 Olympics and a team Bronze winner here.
Earlier in her last-16 match, Deepika held her nerves to pip 2017 world champion Ksenia Perova of the Russian Olympic Committee in a thrilling one-arrow shoot-off and sealed a 6-5 (10-7) win.