Indian archers L Bombayla Devi and Deepika Kumari both advanced to the pre-quarterfinals at the Rio Olympics; should the two reach the semifinals on Thursday, they will face off against each other, guaranteeing India's first medal at the games.
Bombayla beat Chinese Taipei's Lin Shih-Chia 6-2 in her 1/16 elimination contest, while Deepika also won by a similar score, against Italy's Guendalina Sartori. Deepika will now face Chinese Taipei's Tan Ya-Ting for a place in the quarterfinals at 5:30 PM IST on Thursday, while Bombayla is up against Mexico's Alejanndra Valencia at 5:56 PM.
Deepika, 22, did not get off to a great start against Sartori, firing a seven and an eight before ending with a nine to give away the first set 24-27. She made quick amends though, firing two 10s in the following set to level the scores at 2-2. After blitzing to a 28-26 win in the third set, two 10s in the final series was all she needed to sail into the pre-quarters.
In the individual elimination round, each archer shoots three arrows in a set. The archer with the maximum score at the end of six arrows is awarded two points. In the instance of scores being tied, the points are split. The first archer to reach six points wins the match.
Earlier, Deepika defeated Georgia's Kristine Esebua 6-4 in the women's individual 1/32 elimination round. Playing under floodlights and light showers, Deepika fired eight 10s in 15 arrows, and looked in fine touch. Deepika, making her second Olympic appearance, had finished in the 20th position with 640 points in the ranking round. At the London Games, she lost in the opening round of the individual event.
Bombayla, meanwhile, had also staved off windy conditions in her match against Lin. Looking composed, she nosed ahead to a 4-0 lead before Lin fired two consecutive 10s in the third set to make it 4-2. It, however, was not enough as Bombayla fired a 10 and two 9s to take the fourth set 28-26 to move into the next round.
Bombayla had earlier defeated Austria's Laurence Baldauff in the women's 1/32 individual elimination round. Losing the first set 24-27, Bombayla recovered to begin her second set with a 10 and followed it up with two 9s to level the scores at 2-2. Two 7s by the Austrian in the following set worked to Bombayla's favour as she raced to a 4-2 lead.
Laurence failed to mount a comeback, shooting a 10, followed by a six and an eight in the fourth set, as Bombayla comfortably won 6-2. Bombayla, who is at her third Games, has been the most consistent among the Indian women archers at the Rio Olympics so far. She had finished the ranking round in the 24th position, with a score of 638.