All archers save Deepika out of individual recurve events

London: Indian challenge in the individual archery recurve section is almost over with all archers save Deepika Kumari have crashed out of their respective events.

While Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai were eliminated in the second round of the men`s recurve section, Jayanta Talukdar suffered a humiliating defeat in the opening round. In the women`s section Chekrovulo Dwuro`s erratic performance saw her bow out in a shoot-off. It will now be left to Deepika Kumari to atleast give India`s campaign in archery some semblance of respectability considering the woeful show that they have put up at the quadrennial extravaganza. While Tarundeep went down fighting against South Korea`s world No 2 Kim Bubmin. The score was 6-2 in favour of the South Korean. This was after Tarundeep defeated JC Evans of Korea in a shoot-off after being tied 5-5. Rahul convincingly blanked Mongolia`s Jantsan Gantugs 6-0 in the first round only to lose 3-7 to Rafael Dobrowlski of Poland in the second round. Earlier, in the morning, Talukdar was no match for his American rival Jacob Wukie, who easily pocketed the encounter 6-0, while Swuro went down fighting to Jennifer Nichols of USA 6-5 in the one arrow shoot-off after the scores were tied at 5-5. In individual events, which is decided on best of five sets (three arrows each), one who wins a set irrespective of the margin gets two points. Swuro was leading 5-3 and could have clinched the issue but for the bout of nerves that made her fire the arrow in a wayward manner. The Indian needed to hit a 10 in order to clinch the tie but the nervous Nagamese archer could only manage a six as the score was tied at 5-5. In the shoot-off, the American scored a nine, while Swuro could just about hit an eight. Talukdar was a trifle off-colour and lacked the consistency as he started poorly with a score of 22 (8, 5 and 9) in the first set, while Wukie hit 27 (8, 10 and 9). The Indian archer paid the price for a poor score of 5 in the first set and could not really recover from that lapse of concentration. Talukdar fought back in the second set but Wukie was in imperious form as he hit three straight 10s, the maximum possible score. Talukdar picked up and hit his first 10 in the third set and returned with a score of 28 but Wukie was relentless as he hit two more 10s and a nine to pocket the set and the contest with a score of 29. Wukie has already won a silver medal along with his US teammates Brady Ellison and Jake Kaminski in the men`s team event. Talukdar blamed the archers` poor performance on fever that they suffered just a few days before start of the Olympics. "All of us -- me, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai had a fever and became very weak. That`s the main reason we shot badly in the ranking round. Then we ended up with a tough draw and have to face someone shooting really good, like Jacob," Talukdar said. "In this match I just didn`t start well or with any confidence. In the third end I got better and shot a good score of 28 but Jacob was just better. If you want to win you have to be confident," he added. After her loss in the one arrow shoot-off in the 1/32 elimination round in the women`s individual event, Chekrovolu Swuro said she had a "good windy experience". "This is of course a good experience for me. It will help me face the next windy competition. Here the wind is all around, from left, then from right, I cannot judge it. Let`s say it was a good windy experience," said the Nagamese archer. Swuro, who needed a nine to win the match but ended up shooting a six, said, "I shot a six because that was a late shooting. However, I am happy she (Jennifer Nichols) won at the end, at the shoot-off. She is a very good archer." Swuro said that despite a disappointing performance she was happy to have represented her country at the Olympics. "I am very proud to be here as a woman for my country and for my region. Mine is a very big country but there are only few chances to go to the Olympic Games. This was a first step ahead," she insisted. "People at home are praying for me. I am sure with their prayers I will become tougher," she added. Pinning her hopes like millions of Indians on Deepika Kumari, Swuro said, "The only Olympic sport I will watch is archery and tomorrow I will be here for Deepika, who is world No.1 and support her." PTI