Indian ace recurve archer Deepika Kumari failed to secure a medal in the Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Yecheon, Korea, after losing to World No. 2 Lim Sihyeon and No. 3 Alejandra Valencia on Sunday, May 26.
Regrettably, Indian recurve archers returned empty-handed in the Olympic category. Meanwhile, India secured two gold and silver medals in the compound category in the ongoing Archery World Cup Stage 2.
Notably, the Indian women’s compound team clinched the gold medal while the mixed compound team grabbed the silver medal on Saturday. However, none of the recurve archers barring Deepika Kumari could make it to the medal rounds.
South Korea’s Lim Sihyeon defeated Deepika Kumari in the semi-final by 6-2 (28-26, 28-28, 28-27, 27-27). Interestingly, this was a consecutive victory for Lim over Deepika Kumari in less than a month.
Deepika is coming into this Archery World Cup Stage 2 after winning the silver medal in the Shanghai leg in April 2024. She had put up a strong fight in the semi-final clash, securing two points off Lim after bagging a draw in the second and fourth sets.
However, her performance in the first, third, and fourth sets couldn’t help her big as the South Korean bagged the game in four sets.
Deepika Kumari’s miserable run continued in the bronze medal match in Archery World Cup Stage 2
In the bronze medal match, Deepika Kumari suffered a loss over Alejandra Valencia by 4-6 (26-29, 26-28, 28-25, 27-25, 26-29) to return empty-handed.
Moving to the details of the bronze medal game, Deepika couldn’t create a significant impact as her miserable run continued in her first six arrows to trail by 0-4 over the Mexican archer.
However, the Indian archer made a strong comeback in the next two sets to make it 4-4. Nevertheless, Valencia was quick to fight back to earn her second win in four matches.
After these two consecutive losses, Deepika Kumari will now train under South Korean coaching legend Kim Hyung Tak ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024.
The final Olympic qualification campaign at the World Cup Stage 3 in Antalya will begin in June 2024.
