On Thursday, India’s Atanu Das stunned South Korea’s 2012 gold medalist Oh JinHyek in the pre-quarterfinal round of men’s archery after his disqualification from the mixed team competition due to an unsatisfactory ranking and below-par performance.
Atanu Das, an Indian men’s archer competing in the second round of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, accomplished something remarkable that would be remembered for a long time.
He defeated two-time Olympic champion Oh JinHyek of South Korea in the shoot-off, which is a big deal in itself. Atanu has done what will always be discussed in Indian archery by scoring the perfect 10 in the shoot-off. Such a performance is unusual in archery for India. The match between the two was indeed a difficult one.
In Round 16, Atanu faced South Korea’s Oh JinHyek, who had won a gold medal 2 times at the Olympics. Even though the Korean Archer won the first set, Atanu maintained confidence in himself and gave the champion an equal fight.Â
First Four sets:
JinHyek, the South Korean champion archer, opened with a solid score of 8-9-9, to which Das responded with an 8-8-9 score, giving JinHyek two points in the first set.Â
The second set was won by Das when he struck three consecutive 9s, while Oh lost a chance to win two points after hitting an 8 in the final arrow.
Both archers scored the same number of points in the third set. JinHyek had a score of 8-10-9, while the Atanu had a score of 9-9-9 on their side.
Atanu won the fourth set by 8-9-10, as Korean’s archer shot an unusual 6 after 9 and 7 from his last arrow, which made them play a decider, fifth round.Â
The Gold Medalist Archer Hyek led by 4-2 in the first 3 sets, but then the fourth set was won by the Indian Archer to make the match more interesting. Atanu won the fourth set by 27-22. The fifth set was about to prove decisive.
The fifth match is a breakthrough moment:
Both the players gave their best in the fifth set. After which, the set also ended in a draw of 28-28. Both archers split the points and advanced to shoot-off at the end of the fifth and final set.
Most memorable Shoot-off:
The South Korean player, JinHyek, scored the first score in the shoot-off. He scored a 9 in the shoot-off, but Atanu scored a perfect 10 against him. In the 1/8 Eliminations round, this victory puts him in a commanding position.
This win is memorable because the Indian archer, Atanu, defeated a player who was always known for winning in the shoot-off. The Indian archer defeated a player who was always known for winning in the shoot-off.
The joyous reaction on his face is enough to gauge that he has achieved a memorable victory. Let me tell you that his wife Deepika was also seen encouraging him during the match. Deepika Kumari is also set to play the final eighth archery match at the women’s event on July 30.Â
