India at Olympics 2021 archery results: Deepika Kumari faces tough draw; Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav, and Tarundeep Rai fail to impress

The Indian archery team has made a poor start to the 2021 Olympics. The four-member team consisting of Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Tarandeep Rai participated in the ranking round earlier today.

Deepika Kumari failed to perform up to her usual standards as she accumulated 663 points and finished ninth in the women's ranking round. Deepika was hit 30 10s and 13 X’s from her 72 shots. The women's ranking round witnessed South Korea’s An San score 680 points and break the Olympic Qualification record of 673 points.

A lot more was expected from Deepika but she faltered through her archery ranking round to finish well outside the top three.

Difficult day for Indian men

The men's team comprising of Atanu Das, Pravin Jadhav and Tarundeep Rai had a tough outing in the men's archery ranking round.

Pravin Jadhav was the highest ranked archer Indian male archer as he finished with 656 points to rank 31. Pravin Jadhav was followed by Atanu Das, who scored 653 points to rank 35th. Tarundeep Rai accumulated 652 points and ranked 37th.

#Tokyo2020 #ArcheryTop 5️⃣ Rankings🇰🇷 Kim Je Deok - 688🇺🇸 Brady Ellison - 682🇰🇷 Oh Jin Hyek - 681🇰🇷 Kim Woojin - 680🇯🇵 Hiroki Muto - 67831. 🇮🇳 Pravin Jadhav - 65635. 🇮🇳 Atanu Das - 65337. 🇮🇳 Tarundeep Rai - 652 #IND #TeamIndia #Cheer4India #Olympics

— Sportskeeda India (@Sportskeeda) July 23, 2021

The Indian men were far from their best in the ranking round. Pravin Jadhav managed to hit the bull's eye only five times in his 72 shots. Atanu Das managed to hit the "X" seven times and Tarundeep Rai hit the bull's eye on six occasions. The three men hovered around in the lower half of the table for the better part of the archery event .

What next for the Indian archery team?

Deepika Kumari will now be facing Bhutan's Bhu Karma in the next round. Karma finished 56th in the ranking round.

Deepika Kumari will not be partnering with her husband Atanu Das for the mixed team event. Instead, India will be represented by Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav for the mixed event.

Pravin Jadhav and Deepika Kumari's combined score is 1319. As a result, India's mixed team of Deepika Kumari and Pravin Jadhav is ranked ninth for the event. They will now be facing Chinese Taipei's Lin Chia-En and Tang Chih-Chun in the first round.

Tarundeep Rai will face Ukraine's Oleksii Hunbin. Oleksii Hunbin finished 28th on the ranking table. Atanu Das will face Taipei's Deng Yu-Cheng, who was ranked 30th. Pravin Jadhav will lock horns with ROC's Galsan Bazarzhapov. Galsan Bazarzhapov finished 34th after his 72 shots.

The men's team earned a total of 1961 points and finished ninth. They will face Kazakhstan's team comprising of Gankin Denis, Abdullin Ilfat and Mussayev Sanzhar. If India beat Kazakhstan, they will face South Korea next.

Prior to the Olympics, Deepika Kumari had clinched three gold medals in the archery world cup stage 3 held in France. Her performance in the world cup elevated her to World No.1 in the rankings.