TIL Desk Sports/ Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari shrugged off her poor run of form by clinching gold medal in the women’s recurve event at the World Cup (Stage III) after a gap of six years beating Germany’s Michelle Kroppen 7-3 to qualify for the circuit Final, later this year. Deepika, a four-time World Cup final silver medallist (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015), automatically qualified for the Archery World Cup Final in Samsun, Turkey, which will be her seventh appearance at the season-ending event.
“Finally! That’s what I said when I won this gold medal,” said Deepika, who’s last victory at a World Cup stage event came six years ago, in Antalya back in 2012. The Indian archer opened the match with 29 out of a possible 30 points to take a 2-0 lead, before splitting the points with Kroppen in the second.
The German archer, making her individual debut in the finals arena, won the third set and tied the match at 3-3. Deepika then took the fourth and fifth sets with a 29 and a 27, over Michelle’s pair of 26s, to win the match, 7-3. “I was repeating to myself, just do it the best, this is your time; just enjoy your game and forget about winning or losing and have fun’,” Deepika told the official website of World Archery federation.
