Jharkhand troika of Deepika Kumari, Komalika Bari and Ankita Bhakat made the country proud by clinching gold in the World Cup Stage 3 in Paris on Sunday.
The Indian women's recurve team aced with a comfortable win over Mexico. In a repeat of the World Cup Stage 1 final, the troika of world No. 3 Deepika, Ankita and Komalika, who failed to qualify for Tokyo following a shock loss to minnows Colombia, defeated fancied Mexico 5-1 without dropping a set.
This was their second successive gold medal in the World Cup this year, and sixth overall (Shanghai-2011, Medellin-2013, Wroclaw-2013, Wroclaw-2014, Guatemala City-2O21).
Komalika Bari The Telegraph Pic
The Indian team, which had stuttered to win the gold against the same opponents in Guatemala City two months back, was at its best, shooting four 10s with one X (closest to the centre) for a 57-57 score in the first set.
The Indians’ flawless shooting put pressure back on the Mexican team of London 2012 silver-medallist Aida Roman, Alejandra Valencia and Ana Vazquez. They shot a poor 52 to lose the second set by three points.
Ankita Bhakat The Telegraph picture
Leading 3-1, the Indians had another round of consistent shooting with a 55 but the Mexicans failed to equalise and lost the third set by a slender one point to suffer a second successive defeat this year.
Olympian and Padma Shri Deepika, who hails from Ratu Chhati near Ranchi and is a former cadet of Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur, has moved to Pune after her marriage to archer Atanu Das. Komalika is a cadet of the elite Tata cradle while Ankita has joined Tata Steel on contract.
Deepika, along with her husband and ex-Tata archery cradle cadet Atanu Das, also claimed gold in the mix recurve event at the World Cup in Paris. She has already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the individual round.
The ace archer clinched three gold medals, winning every recurve event she was a part of at the World Cup Stage 3 tournament.
Deepika also won her second individual women’s recurve World Cup gold of 2021.
