Archer Das rues missing Paris Olympic quota

Atanu Das. Pic/PTI

At the last Asian Games in Jakarta, India's star recurve archer Atanu Das, 31, had his wife and fellow archer Deepika Kumari, 29, for company. The duo were always close at hand, egging and encouraging not just each other, but also their teammates at the GBK archery field in the Indonesian capital.

This time however, former World No. 1 Deepika, who was making a comeback after her maternity break, failed to make it to the Indian team. On Tuesday, Atanu would have surely missed her by his side, when he stepped in for the shoot-off against China's Qi Xiangshuo at the Fuyang Yingu Sports Centre after fighting back to tie the match at 5-5. In the shoot-off, he shot a 10 while Qi pierced the target with an inner-10 (10-plus score) to win the match and enter the semi-finals.

Atanu was obviously heartbroken after the close defeat, and more so since a Paris Olympic quota spot was up for grabs here. "I don't know what to say after such a close match. I wanted to win the individual gold medal. My concern though was to get the Olympic quota here," he said after his defeat.

Also Read: From birth to rebirth, how World No. 2 Deepika is mastering the juggling act of motherhood

Just like badminton and table tennis, the competition at the Asian Games is extremely tough in archery with all the world's top nations in the fray, and Atanu was ready for this. "The archery competition at the Asian Games is just like the Olympics. In recurve, the Republic of Korea, China, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Japan, these are the five-six countries who are dominant. If you look at the world cup and world championship results, they are filled with Asian archers. It's the same field here," he added, insisting that he wants to return home with a medal though.

"This is my third Asian Games and I still have an opportunity to win a medal in the team event. I will put my full focus on that now," he said.