Indian archers Atanu Das and Deepika Kumari won the recurve men's and women's individual gold medals to cap an incredible first stage of the 2021 Archery World Cup in Guatemala City on Sunday. While Deepika won her third World Cup gold medal, Atanu secured the first international gold of his career in the tournament. Atanu defeated Spain's Daniel Castro in the latter's international circuit debut. The Indian archer shot sets of 28, 29, and a closing excellent 30 points in a four-set victory.
"It feels amazing. It's like dreams are coming true. I've worked so hard for so many years, and now this is paying off," the World Archery website quoted Atanu as saying. "It's beautiful. It's a big boost for me. The Olympics are this year, and I'm working in the right way," he added.
Both Indian archers have now automatically qualified for this season's Archery World Cup Final. The Indian women's team defeated Mexico 5-4 (27-26) in the final to bag the gold medal for the country. Indian trio shot 27 to edge out their Mexican rivals by one point and claim their first World Cup team gold after seven years.
This was India's fifth recurve women's team gold in World Cup having won in Shanghai- 2011, Medellin-2013, Wroclaw-2013, and 2014 previously. In another match, the Indian mixed recurve team of Atanu and Ankita Bhakat won the bronze medal after a 6-2 victory over the US.
