Champia one win away from Olympic berth

Gagan K. Teja

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 29

The Indian men had a mixed day at the World Archery Championship on Wednesday, what with Olympian Mangal Singh Champia being just one win away from securing an Olympic berth but the other two bowing out in their very first match.

Jayanta Talukdar, who was seeded 85th in the tournament, went down to Jay Lyon of Canada (2-6). Rahul Banerjee, ranked 46th, lost to 67th seeded Boardman of Mexico in straight sets (0-6).

However, Champia kept his Olympic dream alive by winning his matches. One more win on Thursday will help him qualify for the biggest sports extravaganza.

Champia, seeded 59th in the tournament, showed nerves of steel to defeat his 54th seeded Brazilian opponent Daniel 7-3 in a nail-biting finish. The Brazilian gave a tough fight but Champia stood firm to get the better of him. In his second match, he defeated an archer from Kazakistan to enter the round of 32.

Meanwhile, the women contingent continued their good form. After securing an Olympic berth in the team event on Tuesday, they impressed in the individual category, too, with Deepika Kumari and Laxmi Rani Majhi making it to the round of 32. While Deepika, seeded 8th, got a bye for being among the top eight archers, Majhi won two thrillers to stay in contention. In her first match, she defeated Italy's Solenne Thomas (61) in a tie-breaker, scoring nine points against the Italian's eight.

Even though Majhi looked good initially and won the first two rounds, the Italian bounced back winning the third and fourth set to tie the score at 4-4. The fifth round ended in a tie. Majhi, however, won the tie-breaker to clinch the match.

She had to fight equally hard in the second match too, which again went down to the tie-breaker. Majhi, however, again emerged triumphant.

Rimil, the third archer, bowed out after losing her first match.