Samsun (Turkey): India’s Deepika Kumari held her nerves in an intriguing play-off to down Lisa Unruh and win the bronze medal in the Archery World Cup Finals here, Sunday.
Both the players were tied at 5-5 at the end of five sets, which necessitated a shoot-off. Kumari and Unruh both shot 9 but Kumari won bronze because her arrow was closer to the centre. This was Kumari’s fifth World Cup Finals podium.
A draw would have been enough for Kumari to seal the issue in the fifth set, but in the absence of a coach the Indian struggled to keep pace with the timing and shot wide. Kumari, a veteran in the World Cup Finals with four silver medals, came out on top in the shoot-off.
“This was for the first time I shot at a big competition like this without a coach. The stronger the competition, the better we get,” Kumari said. “Most of the times, I end up losing a shoot-off so I started panicking. I told myself, ‘I will accept whatever be the result. I will just give my best shot’,” she said after the thrilling win.