The mention of Korea appeared to weigh too much on the Indian archers as Pravin Jadhav and Deepika Kumari lost 2-6 to Kim Je Deok and An San in the quarterfinals of the mixed team event in Tokyo on Saturday.
In fact, the Indian archers presented the two Korean Olympic debutants the victory on a platter, although both sides were below par.
The Korean duo went on to claim gold in the event that made its Olympic debut in Tokyo.
Archery’s powerhouse Korea won two sets despite scoring a low 35 out of a possible 40. This only showed how India allowed them to escape with victory. There was little coordination among the Indian archers as they failed to boost each other after a poor shot.
India made a slow start with Jadhav hitting two 8s and Deepika not managing even a single 10 in the first set as the top-seeded Korean duo won 35-32.
In the second set, while Jadhav came back strongly with two 10s, it was Deepika who faltered hitting 8 and 9, thereby losing it narrowly 37-38.
The tie could have been sealed in the third set itself as the Indians shot three 9s, but An San faltered with an 8 in the final arrow to hand India their only set with a 37-35 win.
However, the Indian duo failed to take advantage as Jadhav started off with a 6, which all but ended their campaign. The duo went down 33-36.
Deepika and Jadhav did not look comfortable as a team in their first match too, although they managed to come back from 1-3 down to beat the Chinese Taipei pair 5-3.