Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari will go head to head with Ksenia Perova of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the pre-quarterfinal (Round of 16) of women’s individual archery event on Friday, July 30.

The Indian world no. 1 had an easy start to the individual event, where she defeated Karma of Bhutan 26-23, 26-23 and 27-24 in straight sets. Things got difficult against USA’s Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez in the next round though, where Deepika Kumari was given a run for her money. 

The two archers played out a five-set thriller with the Indian archer emerging 6-4 victorious. Deepika, in fact, had lost the first set 25-26 before winning the next two 28-25 and 27-25. Mucino-Fernandez won the following set to make it 4-4 before the Indian made it 6-4 right at the end.

“Maybe I was nervous and was not able to adjust to the tricky wind conditions,” Deepika said after the hard-fought win.

“I tried very hard and that was the reason I could not get consistent scores.”

In Ksenia Perova, Deepika faces a superior opponent who finished 8th in the ranking round with 664 points, one place above Deepika (663). Perova has overcome challenges of Australia’s  Alice Ingley in the 1/32 elimination round and Maja Jager of Denmark in the 1/16 eliminations.

Where to watch Deepika Kumari’s Round of 16 archery event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics live in India?

Deepika Kumari’s round of 16 match in the women’s individual event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be telecast on Sony Sports Network channels in India. She will be in action at 6:00 AM IST on July 30, Friday.

Live streaming of archery at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be available on the Sony Liv app and website.

Live broadcast subject to Sony Sports Network.

Featured photo: Instagram / Deepika Kumari