In the end, it proved one point too many, as India's Atanu Das lost to Lee Sueng-Yun from Korea 4-6 on points in the Round of 16 of men's individual archery at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The final score was 30-28, 28-30, 27-27, 28-27, 27-27 in a very, very, closely fought match.
Lee, ranked eighth, was Das's most difficult opponent at the Olympics so far. He had shot a 676 in the ranking round to finish 12th.
The Korean's first shot was a 10, right in the centre. He followed it up with two more to score a perfect 30 in the first round. Das responded well, but his 28 in the first set fell short.
In the second set, it was Das's s turn to start with a 10, and the Korean responded in kind. But Das shot two more perfect 10s, and the Korean shot an uncharacteristic 8 on his last arrow on the second set to lose the set 28-30.
It was truly incredible shooting as Lee started the third set with a 10 again. Das fired a 9 but tied the scores with his second arrow at 19 apiece. Lee handed a golden opportunity to Das by shooting an 8, but instead of a 9 or a 10 which could have won him the set – and, who knows, reversed the ultimate outcome – Das also shot an 8 to split points.
Both archers went blow-for-blow in the fourth set, shooting 9s with their first two arrows. Lee shot a 10 on the last arrow, but Das could only manage a 9, so that the Korean won the set 28-27.
The final set started with Das under immense pressure, for Lee only needed to tie in order to get to 6 points. That was what he got, as both contestants scored 27, but it was enough for the Korean to go through to the quarter-final. Das may have been defeated but was by no means disgraced.
