Archery World Cup Final: Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das return home empty handed

Atanu Das lost a one-sided bronze playoff to reigning Olympic champion Mete Gazoz of Turkey 6-0 (27-29, 26-27, 28-30). He doubled up as Deepika Kumari’s coach when the world number two lost in the shoot-off to Olympic team bronze-medallist Michelle Kroppen.

Star archery couple Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari lost their respective bronze medal matches as India capped a poor show, returning empty-handed from the World Cup Final in Yankton, US. In the absence of an Indian recurve coach, the couple struggled under cold and overcast conditions on Friday (October 1).

Das lost a one-sided bronze playoff to reigning Olympic champion Mete Gazoz of Turkey 6-0 (27-29, 26-27, 28-30). He doubled up as Deepika’s coach when the world number two lost in the shoot-off to Olympic team bronze-medallist Michelle Kroppen. Making her eighth WCF appearance, world number two Deepika mis-fired a six to lose 5-6 (6-9) in the shoot-off.

Returning to action after more than two months following her quarterfinal exit at the Tokyo Games, a perfect set of 30 eluded the three-time Indian Olympian as her German rival stepped up early pressure to cruise to a 4-0 lead. Michelle drilled in perfect scores in the first two sets (30-28, 30-29), while the third was a tie with both the archers shooting 28-all.