India veteran archer Deepika Kumari suffered a 4-6 loss to Korea's Suhyeon Nam in the women's individual event quarterfinals to end India's archery campaign in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024. Deepika had qualified for the quarterfinals after defeating Germany's Michelle Kroppen 6-4 earlier in the day.
Deepika had defeated the 19-year-old Nam in straight sets in the semifinal at the Shanghai World Cup in April en route to winning a silver medal, but on Saturday the Indian stalwart could not repeat that performance.
The match between Deepika and Nam was a closely contested affair, with both archers tied at 4-4 after four sets. Ultimately, Nam's consistency proved decisive as she clinched the fifth set to advance to the semifinals.
Deepika, facing criticism for her performance in the team event, struggled with inconsistency throughout the match. Scores of six and seven in the second and fourth sets hampered her progress.
The Indian archer started strong, winning the first set 28-26. However, Nam quickly responded, leveling the match with a 28-25 victory in the second set. Deepika regained the lead in the third set (29-28) but couldn't maintain momentum, losing the fourth set 27-29.
In the deciding fifth set, Deepika's scores of 9, 9, and 9 were not enough to overcome Nam's perfect 10, 9, and 10.
