Archery: Inconsistent India lose to South Korea, make QF exit in mixed pair event
The last-minute pairing of Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav fumbled in the quarterfinals against top seed Korea to go out of the medal race in the mixed pair event of the archery competition at the Tokyo Games, here on Saturday.
Deepika and Jadhav, who were playing together at the International level for the first time, lost 2-6 to formidable Korea when the mixed event was considered a strong medal chance for the country.
Korea eventually won the gold medal, beating Netherlands 5-3 in the final.
World No. 1 Deepika failed to notch a single perfect 10 from eight arrows while Olympic debutant Jadhav misfired a six in the crucial fourth set after drilling in three perfect 10s at the Yumenoshima Park.
The Indians failed to shoot even a single 10 in the first set as the top seed Korean duo of An San and Kim Je Deok took the first set 35-32 in a low-scoring affair.
Jadhav picked up tempo in the second set with two 10s, but Deepika was astray with scores of 8 and 9. The team lost the second set 37-38.
Required to win the third set to keep their hopes alive, Indians shot three 9s and one 8, while An San faltered with an 8 in the final arrow to hand India the only set.
Needing another win in the fourth set to take the match to the decider, Jadhav started off with a 6 that virtually ended their campaign.
Earlier, Deepika and Jadhav had bounced back to knock out Chinese Taipei to reach quarterfinal.
