Tokyo: The Indian men’s archery team of Atanu Das, Praveen Jadhav, and Tarundeep Rai made a scintillating start at the Tokyo Olympics by defeating Kazakhstan 6-2 in the first match here on Monday but will now face the dominant title. The contender will be from South Korea. The Indian trio defeated Kazakhstan’s Ilfat Abdullin, Denis Gankin, and Sainzar Musayev 55-54, 52-51, 56-57, 55-54.
For India, Atanu played well and scored 10 points five times. It was not an easy match for India at Yumonesima Park as Gankin finished ninth in the individual round and under his leadership, Kazakhstan could deliver surprising results. He had started well but the Indians made a quick comeback and put pressure on him.
Kazakhstan players got off to a good start by scoring 10, 9, and 9 points, in response to which all the three Indian archers scored the same nine points. India scored 9, 10, and 10 points in the second leg of the first set and managed to win the set by one point. Two Kazakhstan players were only able to score eight points each in this stage. In the first leg of the second set, all three archers from Kazakhstan scored the same eight points while India took a strong lead with 28 points.
Jadhav scored only seven points in the next leg but despite this, the Indian team managed to win the second set as well. The third set was very tight with 10 points being scored thrice by both teams. Kazakhstan won the set by one point and dragged the match forward. He took the lead in the fourth set as well but the Indian team managed to win the set and the match by one point. The Indian team had also lost to Korea in the mixed doubles on Saturday.
