India’s Deepika Kumari, on Sunday, lost out to Alejandra Valencia of Mexico in the women’s indivudal recurve bronze medal match at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Yecheon.
Kumari had lost to South Korea’s top seeded Lim Sihyeon 2-6 in the semi-finals, to make her way into the bronze medal match where she lost 4-6 to Valencia.
The 29-year-old Padma Shri awardee did not have the best of starts as she shot two 8s in her first series, while the Mexican found the bulls-eye twice. Though the Indian closed it off with a 10, it was not enough as Valencia pocketed the set 29-26.
Kumari’s display did not improve much in the second set either as she once again dropped two 8s with a 10 to concede it 28-26 to trail 0-4.
With the medal on the line, Kumari put up a much better show. The 8s improved to 9s, and the 10 stayed as she shot a total of 28 in the third set. Valencia, meanwhile, faltered shooting a six with her first arrow as the Indian won it 28-25.
While Kumari shot 27 in the fourth set, with a bulls eye, an eight and a nine, Valencia once again erred with two 9s and a 7 to help the Indian equalise heading into the final set.
Kumari, however, could not hold her nerves in the fifth set, shooting 9,8,9 as the Mexican took home the bronze medal, winning the final set 29-26 rather comfortably.
Kumari had earlier finished fourth in the qualification round, before starting her campaign with a shoot-off win over Slovakia’s Tinkara Kardinar. She then beat Vietnam’s Loc Thi Dao 6-2 in the next round.
The Indian then won 6-0 against France’s Lisa Barbelin in the third round before edging past Turkey’s Elif Berra Gokkir 6-4 in the quarter-finals.