New Delhi: Indian archer Deepika Kumari defeated former world champion Ksenia Perova of Russia 6-5 in a pre-quarterfinal shoot-off and secured a place in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Deepika was leading since the match began. In the cut-throat competition, while Deepika managed to win the first set with 28 points by scoring a 9-10-9, Ksenia won the second set with 27 points. Deepika scored 26 points in the second.
In the third set, Deepika won by hitting the bull’s eye in the first arrow. Though both players scored an identical 9-8-9 in the fourth set, Deepika managed to lead with 5-3.
Ksenia managed a 9, while Deepika misfired a 7 in her first arrow and lost 5-5 in the fifth set. The score in this set led to a deciding shoot-off.
The Russian misfired her first one-arrow to 7 points in shoot-off, and Deepika used the moment to hit a straight 10, thereby securing a direct entry in the quarterfinals.
She will play against the Korean archer, An San, in the quarterfinals.
(Avya Mathur)