Tokyo Olympics: Archer Atanu Das Beats 2012 Champion, Enters Pre-Quarterfinals

Indian archer Atanu Das shocked South Korea's Oh Jin Hyek in a nail-biting finish to make it to the 1/8 Elimination round in the men's individual archery event at the Yumenoshima Ranking Field on Thursday. Atanu came through two tense matches as he put behind the disappointment of the men’s team event to showcase his class at the Yumenoshima Final Field in Tokyo.

Atanu Das hit the bullseye to eliminate Oh Jinhyek in a nerve-wracking shoot-off in his Round of 32 matches that was tied at 5-5 at the end of 5 sets. Indian archer Atanu Das shocked South Korea's Oh Jin Hyekin a nail-biting finish to make it to the 1/8 Elimination round in the men's individual archery event at the Yumenoshima Ranking Field on Thursday. The third-seed Korean started the match with a decent 8-9-9 and Das replied with 8-8-9, giving Jin Hyek two points in the first set. Das came strongly in the second set with three 9s, Oh missed the chance to take the two points after hitting an 8 in the last arrow.

Atanu Das got off to an ordinary start hitting 2 8s with his first two arrows against Korea's former Olympic champion Oh. Notably, the 39-year-old Korean great had won the Men's Team gold medal a few days ago in Tokyo. The tension gripped the field in Tokyo as Deepika was cheering on for Atanu. There were a few pieces of advice as well floating from the stands. And Atanu was bang on the final set, finding 10, 9, and 9. It was matched by Oh and the match finished as a tie at 5-5.

In the shoot-off, Oh went first and hit a 9. And Atanu needed a 10 to seal the match and he got one. Earlier in the day, Atanu defeated Chinese Taipei's Yu-Cheng Dang in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics 6-4 in the 1/32 Elimination round.