Tokyo Olympics: Deepika Kumari kept telling me to believe in myself, says Atanu Das after stunning archery win
Tokyo Olympics: There were no fans to cheer Atanu Das on Thursday at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo due to the Covid-19 restrictions but he had strong support from Deepika Kumari who was at the venue to cheer on her husband.
In Short
- Atanu Das had his wife Deepika Kumari cheering for him on Thursday
- Atanu defeeated former Olympic gold medalist Oh Jin-hyek of Korea in Men's Indivudal event
- Both Atanu and Deepika progressed to
The Yumenoshima Park Archery Field, much like any other venue at the Tokyo Olympics, remainder empty on Thursday as India's star archer Atanu Das took the field in the Men's Individual Recurve events. There were no fans to cheer up but World No. 1 Women's Recurve archer and his wife, Deepika Kumari was at the stands, screaming in messages of support and sending pieces of advice for the archer.
Deepika Kumari made sure her husband was charged up when he faced London Olympics gold medalist and South Korean great Oh Jin-hyek in the Round of 32. Das held his nerve at the important moments and came back from behind to stun the multiple Olympic medalist 6-5 after sealing a thrilling shoot-off.
Oh Jin-hyek went first in the shoot-off and hit a 9 with his first arrow. Atanu was under pressure but he delivered his most important arrow -- a 10 to end the South Korean's hopes of a second Olympic individual gold medal.
"Good job! Confidence!" Kumari yelled to her husband, a lone voice of support in the stand where a dozen Korean staff and team members tried to urge Oh to victory.
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"I was hearing her the whole time, and she was pushing me up and telling me to believe in myself," Das told Reuters on Thursday. Incidentally, Das was wearing two rings -- a wedding ring and an Olympic ring.
.@ArcherAtanu of #IND wins 6-5 in a sensational shoot-off against #KOR's London 2012 Olympic champion Oh Jinhyek in Men's #Archery 1/16 Eliminations #Tokyo2020 | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion | #BestOfTokyo pic.twitter.com/pu5EjgtC89 — #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) July 29, 2021
Atanu Das also revealed that him and Deepika are staying in different rooms in the Games Village but come together for training. Deepika has also advanced to the Round of 16 in the Women's Individual Archery event. She will be in action on Friday.
It was a disappointing start for Atanu and Deepika in their second Olympics campaign. While Atanu came up with an ordinary performance in the Ranking Round to miss out on an opportunity to partner his wife in the Mixed Team event, Deepika, who paired with Pravin Jadhav, faced an early exit in the said event.
Please pray for us, please encourage us: Atanu Das's message to fans
Atanu Das said he was disappointed at missing the berth for the Mixed Team event, which made its debut at the Games. Notably, Atanu and Deepika had headed to the Olympics after winning a World Cup Stage 3 gold medal in the Mixed Team event.
"I expected the mixed team, but unfortunately..." he said.
Das will next meet Takaharu Furukawa of Japan on Saturday for a place in the quarter-finals of the individual competition.
"My message for India is please pray for us and please encourage us. We will try our best, and move ahead," Das said.