Indian archery sensation Deepika Kumari added another feather to her cap, securing her sixth World Cup Final medal with a silver finish in the women’s recurve event. Despite a 0-6 defeat against China’s Li Jiaman in the final, Deepika’s performance throughout the tournament was commendable.
Indian archer Deepika Kumari gets silver medal
The 2010 Commonwealth Games champion exhibited exceptional skill in the quarter and semi-finals. She convincingly defeated Yang Xiaolei, another Chinese archer, by a score of 6-0. In the semi-finals, Deepika outperformed Alejandra Valencia, the eventual bronze medalist, by a narrow margin of 6-4.
“It’s a great honour to participate in this World Cup and to win a medal,” Deepika expressed after her match. “This victory will motivate me to work even harder in the future.”
Who received the gold in the Archery World Cup Final?
Li Jiaman, the eventual gold medalist, secured her title in the final match on her first attempt. The World Cup Final features eight of the top archers from each event (compound and recurve) per gender, qualified based on their performance in the three World Cup stages or their world ranking.
Reflecting on her performance, Li said, “The first match was quite tense, but the subsequent matches were a bit less challenging. I was still giving my best, but I wasn’t as nervous as I was in the beginning. My focus was solely on delivering the best arrows, without dwelling too much on winning or losing.”
The Indian team, comprising three compound and two recurve archers, concluded their campaign at the World Cup Final with one medal. Deepika’s consistent performance has solidified her position as one of the leading archers in the world.